The confessions of Cardinal Ricard, who admitted to having “misconduct with a 14-year-old girl” 35 years ago when he was parish priest in Marseille, were pushed by a letter from the parents of the alleged victim sent in February 2022 to the bishop of Nice, reports France Inter on Tuesday November 8.
In February, when the ex-bishop of Bordeaux was given the mission of carrying out an investigation into foster homes, the parents of this woman wrote a letter to the bishop of Nice. “Following this letter, Bishop Ricard admitted to this prelate having ‘kissed’ the daughter of this couple more than 40 years ago”, said the Marseille prosecutor’s office in a press release. The prosecutor specifies that the bishop of Nice learned “later” the young girl’s minority and then took the decision to transmit the information to justice. The letter was thus transmitted to the prosecution on October 24.
A preliminary investigation has been opened by the Marseille prosecutor’s office for “aggravated sexual assault”. It should allow “first verify the exact nature of the facts denounced as well as their dating and make heard all the people who received confidences as well as the person who would have been the victim”.
Now in her fifties, this woman says she has experienced a “extremely strong trauma”, testified to France Inter Véronique Margron, the president of the Conference of Religious and Religious of France, who spoke with her. In February 2022, she is the one who receives a call from this woman. “This lady had just discovered that Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard had been appointed to a responsibility concerning what is called a new community, and there had been a certain number of abuses and in particular sexual assaults. had been appointed to oversee this community”explains Véronique Margron.
The 50-year-old explains that she had a “huge shock”. “She told me that she had been the victim of Jean-Pierre Ricard as a child, in a close family setting, he was a friend of the familyadds the president of the Conference of Religious of France. The trauma she experienced is extremely strong and was very violent.”
Following his confession, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard announced that he was leaving the presbytery of Peyruis, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, learned France Inter. This accommodation had been made available to him at his request by the diocese of Digne-les-Bains. The cardinal had chosen to spend his retirement, taken in 2019, in this department, where he has family ties.