French cardinal admits assaulting teen girl decades ago

ANKARA

A former bishop of Bordeaux, France on Monday admitted to having abused a young teenage girl.

"Thirty-five years ago, when I was parish priest, I behaved in a reprehensible way with a 14-year-old girl," said Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard's message to the Conference of Bishops in Lourdes, read out by Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort.

"My behavior caused serious and lasting consequences for this person," said Ricard, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016.

Asking for forgiveness, he added: "It is because of these acts that I decided to take a time of withdrawal and prayer."

Eleven bishops or former bishops have been implicated for acts of sexual violence, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the conference, told reporters.

According to an independent commission last year, from 1950 to 2020 there were 216,000 cases of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in France.