It is the heaviest punishment that the Church can inflict. Father Bernard Preynat no longer belongs to the Catholic clergy. The priest, whose sexual abuse of young Scouts ricochet effect triggered the case of Cardinal Barbarin, was defrocked, Thursday, July 4, by an ecclesiastical court.

"The court decided to apply to him the maximum penalty provided by the law of the Church in such a case, namely the dismissal of the clerical state," says the ecclesiastical jurisdiction in a statement. The Conference of Bishops of France has stated, for its part, that it "wanted this judicial act of the Church to be widely known," without commenting on it.

Bernard Preynat now has one month to make an appeal that would be suspensive.

"His status as a priest helped to manipulate the victims"

For François Devaux, co-founder of the victims association La Parole Libérée, the Church was "forced to arrive at the decision they should have made for Preynat as for many others".

In Lyon, Auxiliary Bishop Emmanuel Gobilliard pointed out to AFP that "this is the first time a court has declared Bernard Preynat guilty of the facts".

"The court has certainly taken into account the aggravating circumstances of Bernard Preynat, highlighting the fact that his status as a priest has been involved in the manipulation of the victims, and that this status has an impact on bodies, hearts and minds. victims of these facts, "he added.

Father Preynat, 74, was banned from any pastoral ministry in 2015, but he could still celebrate masses in private. Capacity that was withdrawn in March 2018 by the Archdiocese of Lyon. His case is the source of the resounding affair that has splashed the Church of France and leads to free speech on pedophilia cases.

What about victim compensation?

It all started at the end of 2015, with complaints filed by former scouts against Bernard Preynat. Victims quickly regrouped in an association, The liberated speech, which contributed to "break the omerta".

In early 2016, Bernard Preynat, who acknowledged the facts, was indicted for sexual assault on several young Scouts but many cases are prescribed.

Very quickly, the Preynat affair became the Barbarin affair. Fragilized for failing to inform justice and for having kept the priest in the diocese of Lyon until 2015, the emblematic Cardinal of Lyon was prosecuted and sentenced in March to six months in prison suspended sentence.

While claiming his innocence, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin presented his resignation to the pope, who refused it while waiting for his appeal on 28 November.

Faced with this scandal, both the Vatican and the Church of France have taken a series of measures to combat pedophilia.

Father Preynat's guilt being recognized by the Church, the ecclesiastical court indicated that it could "henceforth devote more fully to the study of each of the claims for financial compensation" already issued by about twenty victims.

The canonical trial of Father Preynat, initially conducted under "administrative" procedure, had been commuted in September in a "judicial" canonical trial, in order to allow possible reparations.

Comparing with precedents in Switzerland, François Devaux estimates that claims could amount to "20,000 euros" per victim, on average. Sources in the diocese contacted by AFP were not able to specify who would pay the bill.

With AFP