Investigations against French cardinal after confession of abuse The hunt for collaborators in Ukraine has begun

After the French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard confessed to the abuse, the public prosecutor in Marseille started a preliminary investigation against the cleric.

As the law enforcement agency announced Tuesday, serious sexual harassment investigations are underway. The exact nature of the reported crimes and their dating should be verified and those involved should be heard.

The former leader of France’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference had admitted the day before that he had abused a 14-year-old girl in the 1980s. The French bishops’ conference published a corresponding letter on Monday. In it, the 78-year-old accused himself of having behaved “in a reprehensible manner” towards the girl.

According to the prosecution, the child’s parents first contacted the church in February and protested, citing the cardinal’s actions decades ago, that he would be appointed to lead an investigation into children’s homes.

The cardinal admitted to a prelate of the church that he had kissed the girl more than 40 years ago. The prelate forwarded this information and the letter from the parents to the public prosecutor’s office at the end of October.

Ricard was formerly Archbishop of Bordeaux. He headed the Episcopal Conference from 2001 to 2007. As a cardinal, he is also an adviser to Pope Francis. The current president of the conference, Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, described the cardinal’s confession on Monday as a “shock”. (aeg/sda/dpa)