Philippe Barbarin

After learning of information concerning Father Bernard Preynat's past abuses, Barbarin retained the priest in pastoral duties until 2015. Prosecuted for failure to report, he received a six-month suspended sentence at first instance in 2019, then was acquitted on appeal in 2020; the Court of Cassation upheld this favourable outcome in 2021, making the acquittal final.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Course of the proceedings

1. Formally charged — Formal charge before the current outcome

At a press conference in Lourdes in March 2016, Barbarin stated that « most of the acts are, thank God, time-barred », wording that caused public and political shock amid the Preynat affair.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Personally implicated

An adult victim contacted Barbarin in 2003-2004 concerning Father Guy Gérentet de Saluneaux. Barbarin met the complainant and the priest, who admitted an assault but described it as an isolated incident. The existing ban on public ministry was maintained; Barbarin advised the victim to contact the authorities but did not himself notify prosecutors. The priest was subsequently convicted in 2016 of assaults on eight young girls.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

Father Bruno Houpert, convicted in 2007 of sexually assaulting adult men, subsequently served in the Lyon diocese and was appointed dean in 2013, prompting controversy when the matter received media attention in 2016.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

After Father Philippe de Morand sexually assaulted a young adult in 2008, the victim and his father alerted the cardinal. The priest was transferred to the Nanterre diocese and convicted in 2010, receiving a six-month suspended sentence. In 2016, Barbarin's handling of the case was publicly challenged, and a canonical investigation was requested.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

During debate on marriage between people of the same sex, Cardinal Barbarin stated that redefining marriage could open the way to unions involving three or four people and suggested that the prohibition of incest might subsequently be challenged, triggering strong controversy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Personally implicated

Early in his episcopacy in Lyon, several of Philippe Barbarin's liturgical and ecumenical decisions caused tensions with Protestants and some Catholics, particularly concerning communion and public ceremonies.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Direct responsibility