• Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard was Bishop of Bordeaux from 2001 to 2019.

  • He confessed through a letter read on Monday to having had "reprehensible conduct" against a 14-year-old minor 35 years ago.

  • The new bishop of Bordeaux, Jean-Paul James, says "to express [his] great compassion to the victim concerned".

He is one of the eleven bishops implicated on Monday in cases of sexual violence.

In a letter, read to the conference of bishops of France on Monday, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux from 2001 to 2019, admitted "reprehensible conduct" on a 14-year-old girl.

"Today when the Church in France has decided to listen to the victims and act in truth, I have decided to no longer keep my situation silent and to put myself at the disposal of justice, both in terms of society than that on the Church,” he wrote in this letter read by Eric de Moulins-Beaufort during a press conference at the Conference of Bishops in Lourdes.

“This approach is difficult but what is first is the suffering experienced by the victims and the recognition of the acts committed.

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🔴 Bishop @Mgr_EMB reads Cardinal Ricard's press release, which recognizes serious acts.

Archbishop emeritus of Bordeaux, he is a member of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

#APLourdes


👉 Fight against abuse: the @Eglisecatho press conference: https://t.co/O1hqDrCh3n pic.twitter.com/rBcccNdzNw

— KTOTV (@KTOTV) November 7, 2022

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“Serious and lasting consequences” for the victim

Now 78 years old, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard explains in this letter that 35 years ago, when he was parish priest, he "behaved in a reprehensible way with a 14-year-old girl". .

“My behavior necessarily caused serious and lasting consequences for this person.

I explained it to her and asked her forgiveness.

I renew here my request for forgiveness as well as to all his family.

Finally, I apologize to those I have hurt and who will experience this news as a real ordeal.

»



In a press release, the new bishop of Bordeaux, Jean-Paul James, said “to express [his] great compassion to the victim concerned.

“I share the pain of all those, in particular in the diocese of Bordeaux, who will be hurt by these revelations.

I am thinking especially of those who have been victims of priests and religious here in Gironde.

He "renews" his invitation to people who could have been victims of reprehensible acts in Gironde "to let the diocesan monitoring team know".

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11 bishops or former bishops “implicated” in the context of sexual violence

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Church: Gathered in Lourdes, the French bishops will work on transparency and trust

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