Priest

Priest attacked with knife while celebrating Mass in Nice

France — Link

The priest was not seriously hurt; the alleged attacker has since been identified as a 31-year-old French national with no previous police record.

French cathedral arson suspect held over priest's murder

France — Link

A 40-year-old Rwandan national, who admitted starting a fire in Nantes cathedral in July 2020 and who was given accomodation with a Catholic mission in SW France while on bail, gave himself up to police on Monday over the murder of one of the mission's priests.

Greek Orthodox priest shot twice in SE French city of Lyon

France — Link

An Orthodox priest of Greeek nationality was hit twice at close range by a man with a shotgun as he closed his church in the south-east French city of Lyon on Saturday afternoon, after which local media reported that a man matching a description of the assailant was arrested several hours later.

French priest jailed five years in child sex abuse case

France — Link

Bernard Preynat, 74, a defrocked priest convicted of assaulting at least 80 young boys between the ages of seven and 15 between 1971 and 1991, was on Monday handed a five-year jail term.

French court clears archbishop of covering up child abuse

France — Link

A conviction and six-month suspended jail sentence handed last year to Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, 69, archbishop of Lyon, for failing to inform the authorities about evidence of child sex abuse by a priest under his authority was overturned on appeal on Thursday, although an association of victims said they would in turn appeal the ruling. 

Pope refuses French cardinal's resignation over sex abuse inaction

France — Link

French Roman Catholic cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, who has appealed his conviction this month for failing to report allegations of abuse of boy scouts committed by a priest, said on Tuesday that Pope Francis has refused his offer to resign his post.

French film on paedophile priest case opens after legal go-ahead

France — Link

François Ozon’s film Grace a Dieu (By the Grace of God), which tells the real-life story of how Catholic priest Bernard Preynat sexually abused young scouts the 1980s and early 1990s, opened in French cinema theatres on Wednesday after a Paris court ruled against a last-minute attempt by Preynat, who has yet to be tried, to halt its distribution, and also against a demand by a psychologist and member of the Lyon diocese that her name should be removed.  

French priest suspended after video shows him slapping baby

France — Link

Footage shows 89-year-old priest ordering the infant he is holding at a baptism to 'be quiet' before sharply slapping his cheek.

French survivor tells of Rouen priest's jihadist murder

France — Link

Guy Coponet, forced by killers to film murder of Father Jacques Hamel in church at Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, says: 'I can't get over it.'

Thousands gather for funeral of mudered French priest Jacques Hamel

France — Link

French interior minister was among mourners for Normandy priest who had his throat cut when two jihadists stormed his church during Mass.

French probe into cardinal’s alleged abuse cover-up dismissed

France — Link

Cardinal Barbarin had been accused of failing to remove a priest when he became aware he had sexually abused young boys 25 years ago.

French Muslims join Mass in show of unity after priest's murder

International — Link

Answering a call by religious leaders for the display of solidarity after the killing of a priest by Islamist teenagers, groups of Muslims joined Sunday Mass ceremonies.

Syrian refugee arrested in France over church attack

International — Link

A copy of the passport of the unidentified man was found at the home of Adel Kermiche, one of two men who murdered a priest in Normandy on Tuesday. 

Church aassailant spoke of 'knife carnage' weeks before attack

France — Link

Adel Kermiche, 19, used encrypted messaging service Telegram to tell fellow jihadists 'You take a knife, you go to a church, you make carnage'.

French judges in the dock over priest killer's release

France

Adel Kermiche, one of two men who attacked a church in Normandy on Tuesday morning and committed the horrific murder of an 86-year-old Catholic priest in the name of the Islamic State group, was at the time on conditional release from preventive detention. The revelation that he was wearing an electronic tag with permission to leave his home near to the church on weekday mornings has caused a storm of controversy in France, and fierce criticism of the judges who decided his release from prison in March, despite the objections of the public prosecutor's office. Mathilde Goanec hears from fellow magistrates of what they describe as a fine line in assessing the true danger individuals like Kermiche represent.