French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin will go on trial in April on charges of covering up for a priest accused of abusing children in his Lyon diocese over 25 years ago, a court ruled on Tuesday, reports RFI.
Barbarin, the most senior French Catholic leader to be tried for allegedly failing to report a paedophile priest, will go on trial on 4 April next year along with six co-defendants, the court in Lyon said.
The trial is set to run for three days.
The 66-year-old cardinal is accused of failing to report priest Bernard Preynat to authorities after a former scout in 2014 accused the cleric of abusing him in the 1980s.
Barbarin left the priest in his post, where he had contact with children, until 2015.