Anger ended up being heard. The bishops of France want the Archbishop of Toulouse to return to his decision to promote a priest convicted of rape on a minor in 2006, saying that this appointment can only “rekindle wounds” and “disconcert” the faithful.
“We have initiated a constructive dialogue with Mgr Guy de Kerimel, Archbishop of Toulouse, inviting him to reconsider the decision he had taken about the appointment of the chancellor of his diocese” indicates on Sunday the presidency of the Conference of Bishops of France in a press release.
“Take the side of mercy”
“Indeed, such an appointment to such an important position, canonically and symbolically, can only rekindle wounds, awaken suspicion and disconcert the people of God,” said the organization.
At the beginning of June the Archbishop of Toulouse appointed to the post of Chancellor the priest Dominique Spina, sentenced in 2006 to five years in prison, one of which was suspended for the rape of a high school student of 16 years in 1993. The archbishop explained that he “took the side of mercy” to name this priest to whom he has “nothing to blame” in an “administrative function”.
An “unacceptable” situation
A decision that aroused misunderstanding. In response, several collectives of victims of Catholic establishments of which Notre-Dame de Bétharram have expressed their “anger” in the face of an “unacceptable” situation.
A situation that prompted the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF), chaired by Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille, to react. “We have learned to look at these facts first from the point of view of people who have been the victims and who suffer the consequences all in length,” she explains. This displacement of the gaze, the overwhelming listening of their distress and their pain, the welcome of their invitation to humbly pursue a path of truth humbly, began, for our ecclesial institution, a long and demanding work of conversion, which we are resolved to continue. »»
