the Catholic chaplain Guillaume Seguin will be suspended as a precaution by the AP-HP

At the Cochin hospital, the Catholic chaplain Guillaume Seguin will be suspended “as a precaution”, by the very beginning of next week, indicates to franceinfo the Public Assistance – Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP). The man had already withdrawn this Friday, after the revelations of the newspaper Le Monde and Golias, on the fact that he still exercises despite a canonical sanction for acts of sexual assault, information confirmed by franceinfo, source close to the case.

“The AP-HP considers that the conditions of serenity necessary for the continuation of the activities of Father Seguin within the Cochin hospital are no longer met, and will take for this, by the very beginning of next week , a measure of suspension as a precaution”indicates the AP-HP, which at the same time launched discussions with the diocese to resolve this situation.

Sanctioned by the Church

In 2015 and 2018, two people reported to the Church acts of sexual assault during confessions. Following this, in 2020, Guillaume Seguin was sanctioned. He can no longer exercise spiritual accompaniment or confess as a chaplain for 5 years, except at the Cochin hospital. A sanction that neither the diocese of Paris nor the Conference of Bishops of France wish to comment on. These facts were the subject of a report to the Paris public prosecutor’s office in 2019 but were closed without action in December 2020.

Salaried chaplains like Guillaume Seguin are paid by the hospital and are part of the staff. Cults can withdraw the mission letter from each chaplain (the one that gives them the right to confess to the sick), resulting in de facto dismissal. Still according to information from franceinfo, the possibility of withdrawing this mission letter from Guillaume Seguin is being studied.