French cardinal found guilty of covering up sexual abuse

[muriel_volestrangler]

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, was given a six-month suspended prison sentence on Thursday for failing to report to the authorities accusations made against the priest.
...
The scandal in Lyon emerged in 2015 when a former Scout went public with allegations that a local priest, Bernard Preynat, had abused him as a child 25 years earlier.

Devaux also filed a complaint against Barbarin, the priest’s superior, alleging he had known about the abuse and covered it up.
...
The head of the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Spanish archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, was also accused of complicity in the alleged cover-up in Lyon. But the Vatican cited his immunity from prosecution to avoid a trial.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/07/philippe-barbarin-french-cardinal-found-guilty-of-failing-to-act-on-sexual-abuse-allegations

So, the Vatican under Francis is still trying to avoid accountability and convictions.

[MineralMan]

1. "immunity from prosecution..."

That sort of says it all, I think. If church officials can be declared to be "immune from prosecution," then any crime can be committed with impunity...

...and probably has been committed with impunity and some time or another.

[Lordquinton]

2. The head inquisitor is above the law

This has never gone wrong in the past!

[Major Nikon]

3. Even some DUers are "unsure" whether or not the RCC should be allowed to cover up child rape

So it's not as if Frank's supporters are all that hard to find in that endeavor.

[Eugene]

4. Barbarin resigns after receiving suspended prison sentence over abuse allegation neglect ... but

Source: Euronews

Barbarin resigns after receiving suspended prison sentence over abuse allegation neglect

By Luke Hurst & Alasdair Sandford • last updated: 07/03/2019 - 20:17

Philippe Barbarin, the Archbishop of Lyon, has resigned after being handed a six-month suspended prison sentence for failing to act on sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic church.

A French court convicted him on Thursday of failing to report allegations of sexual abuse of boy scouts that took place in his diocese in the 1980s and early 1990s, by a priest who is due to go on trial later this year.

The cardinal – Archbishop of Lyon since 2002 – is the highest profile cleric to have been caught up in the sexual abuse scandal in the French Catholic church so far.

He was once tipped as a possible future pope.

-snip-

Lawyers for Barbarin have said they intend to appeal against the conviction. “The court’s reasons do not convince me. We will therefore contest this decision,” said Jean-Félix Luciani, adding that the court had been under pressure as a result of documentaries and a film about the case.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.euronews.com/2019/03/07/philippe-barbarin-suspended-prison-sentence-for-cardinal-who-failed-to-report-abuse-allega