Under-fire French cardinal ‘personally apologizes’ to sex abuse victims

In this March 1, 2013 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin arrives for a meeting at the Vatican. Three of the numerous victims of an alleged French pedophile priest have asked Pope Francis to help them understand why Catholic Church officials failed to protect them. The victims were boy scouts in the 1980s when allegedly molested by Bernard Preynat. The scandal gained attention this month when Cardinal Barbarin and five others were handed preliminary charges for failure to denounce a crime and endangering others. AP File Photo

LYON, France—A French cardinal accused of covering up the sexual abuse of children by priests apologized to victims during a mass on Wednesday, according to the website of his diocese.

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, quoting Pope Francis, said he was “obliged to assume all the evil committed by some priests and personally apologise for the damage they have caused by sexually abusing children.”

He said he apologized even though he was not in power in the diocese “when the abominable acts took place.”

Barbarin said he met Wednesday with priests, deacons and members of the community in the city of Lyon to discuss a case which even prompted the government to weigh in.

Former victims of a priest accused of sexually abusing them 25 years ago claim Barbarin did not report him or remove him from duty when he learned of his past in 2007.

Barbarin has since faced other accusations of failing to remove two other priests who had histories of sexual abuse.

“I have never, never, never covered up acts of paedophilia,” Barbarin said last week after Prime Minister Manuel Valls urged him to “take responsibility” in the case.

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