Georges Colomb made this request to the pope, while the Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation “concerning acts of a sexual nature alleged against this bishop and which would have been committed in 2013”.
Article written by
Posted
Reading time : 1 min.
:quality(50)/2023/06/13/6488dd2a38b4a_000-33jg83j.jpg)
He does not wish to exercise his functions during the investigation. The Bishop of La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime), Mgr Georges Colomb, announced on Tuesday June 13 that he had asked the Pope “to put it back”. This request is made after the opening of an investigation, following a report by the Foreign Missions of Paris (MEP), “concerning acts of a sexual nature with which this bishop is accused and which were allegedly committed in 2013”specifies the Paris prosecutor’s office to AFP, confirming information from The Cross, Christian Family And The life.
In a press release published on the diocesan website, Bishop Georges Colomb, former superior general of the MEP (2010-2016), writes that he has no “to date, not been contacted by any investigator” And “expresses its astonishment and incomprehension at these slanderous allegations and vigorously denies them”. Nevertheless, “in order to be able to prepare his defense and preserve the diocese of La Rochelle, Mgr Colomb took the decision to ask the Pope to set him aside for the time of the investigation, while remaining Bishop of La Rochelle”, adds the press release. “An administrator should be appointed to look after our diocese during this period,” is it specified.
“Serious” charges
In a separate press release also published on Tuesday evening, the Conference of Bishops of France describes as “serious” the accusations brought against Mgr Colomb and Mgr Gilles Reithinger, Auxiliary Bishop of Strasbourg. The latter, who had succeeded Bishop Colomb at the head of the MEP from 2016 to 2021, is quoted in press articles as having been aware of the accusations of sexual assault that took place at the MEP as early as 2013.
“Both categorically deny the facts described in the articles published on Tuesday, June 13. The voice of complainants must be heard; the rights of the defense, respected”, writes the president of the Conference of Bishops of France. In mid-May, the MEPs announced that they had asked an external firm to identify cases of sexual violence that may have taken place between 1950 and 2023 within them.