French cardinal convicted in sex abuse scandal to meet pope

French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin (right) arrives for a press conference in Lyon, central France on March 7, 2019. AP

VATICAN CITY — French cardinal Philippe Barbarin is meeting with the pope after having been convicted by a French court of failing to report a known pedophile priest to police.

Barbarin has said he will resign after becoming the latest high-ranking churchman to fall in the global reckoning over clergy sex abuse and cover-ups. He is scheduled for an audience with Pope Francis Monday morning.

A court in Lyon ruled March 7 that Barbarin had an obligation to report the Rev. Bernard Preynat to civil authorities, and gave the cardinal a six-month suspended prison sentence.

Preynat is scheduled to be tried on sexual violence charges next year. He has confessed to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 1980s.

Barbarin’s conviction deepens the crisis facing the Catholic Church’s embattled hierarchy. /ee