The Church asked a priest of Breteuil (Oise) to renounce his curial office, which he accepted, after a woman complained to the bishop, we learned on Tuesday of the diocese, while a criminal investigation for rape is underway.
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“ Monsignor Jacques Benoit-Gonnin asked the priest to renounce his curial office, which he accepted. As of June 30, he will no longer have a parish charge ”pending the end of the investigation opened by the Beauvais prosecution and a possible judgment, the diocese explained to AFP, confirming information from the Mail Picard.
He is a priest born in 1966 and came from Kinshasa, the capital of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “ An investigation started in May after the complaint of a woman who claims to be the victim of rape by a priest. This investigation is still ongoing, "said the Beauvais prosecution.
This woman " recognizes that there was a romantic relationship that settled between the two and believes that in the context of this relationship, he took advantage of a certain grip he had on her to obtain one or more sexual relations, "he added, adding that the man had not yet been heard in the context of this investigation.
The bishop's decision, announced this weekend at the parish, was taken on the basis of a canonical investigation carried out before confinement. The diocese affirms to have learned Monday that a penal investigation was in progress by the press and underlines that the Church is " ready to collaborate with justice ".
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