French cardinal admits abuse of 14-year-old girl

“When I was a parish priest, I behaved in a reprehensible way with a young girl aged 14. My behaviour has inevitably led to grave and lasting consequences for this person”, the clergyman, Jean Pierre Ricard, wrote in a statement as reported by Catholic News Agency.

Ricard said to have asked for forgiveness from the victim and her entire family. In addition, he announced that he would turn himself in to the authorities and lay down his offices.

According to archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, charges have been filed with the attorney general and the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.

Ricard, now 78 years old, used to be the bishop of Bordeaux, in the southwest of France. He served there between 2001 and 2019.

According to the Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad, there are ten other bishops who are accused of sexual abuse in France. That was announced by the French Roman Catholic Church on Monday. Archbishop Moulins-Beaufort says that the accused will be subjected to court cases or disciplinary measures by the Church itself.