Barbarin case. The Vatican refuses the appearance of one of his

The Vatican did not notify Spanish cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer of his summons in the Barbarin case, citing his "immunity".

The information was learned at AFP on Wednesday by the civil parties in the Barbarin case. The Vatican did not notify Spanish cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer of his summons in the Barbarin case, citing his "immunity" . The civil parties had summoned this prelate Iberian, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, before the Criminal Court of Lyon, for complicity of non-denunciation of sexual assault.

Ladaria was consulted by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin on the case of a priest of his diocese, implicated by former Scouts of the Lyon region. The Spanish prelate had advised the archbishop of Lyon to take "appropriate disciplinary measures while avoiding the public scandal" in a letter seized by the investigators. That is to say, "not to seize justice," according to plaintiffs' lawyers. Their summons to appear had been transmitted during the summer to the Vatican by the French authorities.

"A system to evade justice"

In a "note verbale" sent on 17 September to the Quai d'Orsay and sent to the Lyon court, which AFP was able to consult, the Roman authorities underline that the Spanish prelate exchanged with Cardinal Barbarin "in the exercise of sovereign functions " , in its position within the organization of the Holy See, and that international law recognizes " criminal immunity 'ratione materiae' to public officials for acts performed in the name of the Sovereign " pontiff. "The Vatican Court therefore considered the proceedings unacceptable and established that it would not proceed to notify the summons to Cardinal Ladaria" .

For François Devaux, one of the founders of the Lyon association La Parole Libérée who initiated the procedure, this decision "highlights the particular problem of the Church: a system that allows us to avoid justice, a state that allows us to protect the system " .

The complainants criticize Bishop Barbarin for not denouncing the actions of Father Bernard Preynat, the priest implicated, when he was informed in the mid-2000s by a third party, then in 2014 by a victim; and to keep him in office, in contact with children, until 2015 in the diocese of Lyon.They wanted the Spanish prelate of the Vatican to appear alongside Bishop Barabrin and five other religious leaders before the 7th chamber of the Criminal Court of Lyon, to denounce the silences of the entire Catholic institution on the facts of pedophilia.