French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Wednesday battled to contain a new controversy after lawmakers urged him to explain whether he was aware of widespread claims of sexual abuse of minors at a Catholic school.
Bayrou, a veteran centrist named by President Emmanuel Macron in December to end months of political crisis after inconclusive snap polls, does not have a parliamentary majority in a bitterly divided parliament and depends on the support of the Socialists to survive.
In a new controversy gripping French politics, the Socialists have asked Bayrou to say clearly whether he was aware of widespread claims of violence and rape of minors committed at a Catholic school between the 1970s and 1990s.
"We demand that all the light be shed on these crimes and on Francois Bayrou's knowledge of this case, particularly when he was education minister between 1993 and 1997," the party said in a statement.
Prosecutors have been investigating around a hundred complaints concerning alleged violence, sexual assault and rape committed at the Notre-Dame de Betharram school in southwestern France between the 1970s and 1990s.
Bayrou's own children attended the school.
One would think that had he known about it he would have removed his kids from the school. On the other hand, he had kids in the school, so, how could he not know?
"I reject artificial controversies on this subject," Bayrou, 73, said in parliament, denying any wrongdoing for the second day in a row. He said that "at no time" was he warned of the alleged incidents at the time.
Some lawmakers even said Bayrou should quit his post. Greens MP Arnaud Bonnet said the prime minister must provide "clear answers" or resign.
"Your silence indicates that the code of silence reigns at the top of the state", said Paul Vannier, a lawmaker with the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI).
"It directly involves the president (Emmanuel Macron), who is solely responsible for your continued presence at Matignon," he said, referring to the seat of the prime minister in Paris.
Last week French investigative website Mediapart reported that Bayrou did not act after priests and supervisors at the Catholic school were accused of widespread sexual abuse.
Witnesses, questioned by AFP last week, also claimed that Bayrou must have been aware of the allegations of sexual assault.
On Tuesday, Bayrou also rejected the accusations when he was grilled by lawmakers in parliament. "I can assure you that it is all untrue and that a complaint for defamation will obviously be filed," he said.
Bayrou had already found himself in hot water with the Socialists recently when he referred to immigrants "flooding" France, using terminology previously used by the far right.
The power of the anti-right in European politics forbids you from even using the same words as right-wing parties, even if it is the most accurate word.
In a symbolic move, the party leadership proposed a no-confidence motion after those comments, urging the prime minister to uphold republican values.
(AFP)
Canadian bishop accused of sex abuse in Quebec class-action suit resigns
Pope Francis on Tuesday said he had accepted the resignation of a Canadian bishop who has been named in a class-action lawsuit against the church that alleges sexual assault.
In a statement, the pope noted that any bishop who turns 75 is automatically requested to offer his resignation. The pope makes a decision on whether to accept the offer “after he has examined all the circumstances,” the statement said.
Blais is mentioned in a list of sexual predators filed as part of a victims’ class action against the Archdiocese of Quebec. He has denied any wrongdoing.
“The nomination of a new bishop … is not linked to the allegations against Bishop Blais,” the Diocese of Baie-Comeau said in an emailed statement, noting the church’s policy of requiring all those who hit 75 to offer their resignation.
Blais would not be speaking to the media, it added.
—Reporting by David Ljunggren, editing by Caroline Stauffer, Hugh Lawson and David Gregorio
The Archdiocese of Chicago has removed a priest from ministry following allegations that he sexually abused a minor several decades ago.
In two letters — one to parishioners of Sts. Joseph and Francis Xavier Parish in Wilmette, Illinois, and one to those at St. Francis Borgia in Chicago — archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich said the archdiocese had received allegations of sex abuse against Monsignor Daniel Mayall.
The priest had served several roles at St. Joseph and then at the combined parishes from 2016 to 2021. He led St. Francis Borgia from 1993 to 2002.
The alleged abuse occurred at St. Francis Borgia “approximately 30 years ago,” Cupich said in his letter to parishioners.
“In keeping with our child protection policies, I have directed Monsignor Mayall to remain out of ministry and refrain from all parish and school activities,” the prelate said.
Mayall “strenuously denies this allegation,” Cupich said, but he has “agreed to cooperate with this direction.”
The allegation was further reported to civil authorities, Cupich said, while the alleged victim was offered access to the archdiocesan victim ministry.
The archdiocesan Independent Review Board (IRB) will complete its investigation after law enforcement investigates the allegations, the cardinal said.
“We do not presume the truth or falsity of an allegation until the process is complete and I have received our IRB’s recommendation for my decision,” he said. “Only by conducting a thorough and impartial review can we ensure fairness to all concerned.”
According to an archdiocesan announcement last year, Mayall retired from full-time ministry in 2024 after 44 years of service.
He resided at the Sts. Joseph and Francis Xavier Parish following his retirement, Cupich noted in his letters.
Gerald Ridsdale, Australia’s most notorious paedophile priest, dies in jail
Child protection group Bravehearts says some may see his death as ‘the end of a dark chapter’ but for survivors, the trauma remains
A paedophile priest, convicted of abusing more than 70 children over three decades, has died, but advocate groups for survivors of sex abuse says it “doesn’t erase the misery” and the “immense suffering” he caused.
Gerald Ridsdale died on Tuesday morning in prison where he had been held since 1994. He was 90.
Ridsdale’s history of child abuse began in 1961 – the year he was ordained as a priest.
He spent the next three decades abusing dozens of children across regional Victoria, often using his privileged status as a priest to earn the trust of his victims and their families.
He was also accused of abusing children in New South Wales and the US, where he underwent church-connected sex offender treatment.
He was later charged with other offences stemming from Sano taskforce investigations, established by Victoria police to investigate historical and new allegations of child sexual abuse involving religious and nongovernment organisations.
Those charges and court appearances garnered him the moniker of Australia’s worst paedophile priest.
The late Cardinal George Pell lived with Ridsdale for a time in the 1970s, accompanied him to court in 1993, and offered to provide character evidence for him.
Which tells you a lot more about George Pell than Ridsdale.
The Child Abuse Royal Commission investigated what Pell knew of Ridsdale’s offending while Pell worked in the Ballarat diocese – the centre of Australia’s abuse scandal in the 1970s and 1980s.
It found that, as early as 1973, well before any police investigation, then Father Pell had “turned his mind to the prudence of Ridsdale taking boys on overnight camps”.
“The most likely reason for this, as Cardinal Pell acknowledged, was the possibility that if priests were one-on-one with a child then they could sexually abuse a child or at least provoke gossip about such a prospect,” the commission found. “By this time, child sexual abuse was on his radar, in relation to … Ridsdale.”
The commission heard that, almost a decade later, Pell was involved in a meeting of the College of Consultors about whether to move Ridsdale from the Mortlake parish in Ballarat to Sydney. The meeting included senior Catholic officials, including then bishop Ronald Mulkearns.
Pell claimed he was deceived at the meeting about the true reasons for moving Ridsdale, something rejected by the royal commission.
“It is implausible given the matters set out above that Bishop Mulkearns did not inform those at the meeting of at least complaints of sexual abuse of children having been made,” the royal commission found.
Leonie Sheedy is a co-founder of the Care Leavers Australia Network, which supports abuse victims from foster care, orphanages and other state-run institutions.
She said Ridsdale’s death “doesn’t erase the misery he caused”.
“There are many Catholic enablers who should hang their heads in shame for ignoring the children’s cries,” she told the Guardian.
Other survivor advocates had a similar reaction.
Alison Geale, chief executive of child protection group Bravehearts, said:
“Gerald Ridsdale’s death does not erase the immense suffering he inflicted on innocent children and their families. While some may see his passing as the end of a dark chapter, for survivors, the trauma and its impacts remain.”
Beyond Abuse chief executive Steve Fisher told the Guardian few people would shed a tear for Ridsdale.
“When vicious career paedophiles die, survivors and friends are only sad about one thing – that they did not get to see him suffer more as he made his victims suffer for the rest of their lives,” he said.
At Ridsdale’s 1994 plea hearing, witnesses told how he was moved from one parish to another when claims of abuse were raised.
The 2017 royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse found those claims were true, and confirmed that those high up in the church had made decisions to shift Ridsdale to other parishes after allegations of child abuse to avoid scandal.
It found that the Diocese of Ballarat had known of Ridsdale’s offending since the 1960s – and there was no question that by 1982 Mulkearns knew of Ridsdale’s offending.
He admitted to another eight sexual assault charges against children as recently as August last year.
Ridsdale, who was born in Ballarat, appeared frail during his last court appearance and had been excused from attending his most recent mentions.
During the last hearing he attended, the court was told Ridsdale was in chronic pain and was likely to go into palliative care.
He was not asked to speak during the hearing except for his plea, to which he replied “I’m guilty”.
He had been too unwell to attend previous hearings for offences in the regional Victorian towns of Inglewood, Ballarat, Apollo Bay, Horsham and Mortlake, between 1973 and 1981.
Ridsdale was serving a maximum of 40 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to sexually abusing at least 72 children during the 1970s and 1980s while working as a Catholic priest at multiple schools and churches across Victoria.
He had a fall in November 2022 and was bedridden, suffering chronic pain, muscle wasting and weak limbs.
In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International.
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