The diocese of Évreux announced Friday, December 3 to deprive of his functions a priest who recognized in September the paternity of an 11-year-old son born of a "
bond
".
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“
In accordance with the code of canon law - internal law of the Church - the Bishop of Évreux was forced to sanction Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka with the sentence of suspense a divinis, which prevents him from exercising any priestly ministry and forbids him to confer / celebrate any sacrament
”, explains the diocese in a press release.
Wenceslas Munyeshyaka can thus keep the robe but is prohibited from all his priestly functions: he can no longer celebrate mass, marriage, or receive confession.
Arrived in France in 1994
This priest, who had been integrated into the diocese of Kigali in 1992, “
on September 6, 2021, entered in the civil status registers of Gisors an acknowledgment of paternity on a son, born in July 2010, from a relationship that 'he maintained in Gisors
”, specifies the diocese.
Of Rwandan nationality, Wenceslas Munyeshyaka was granted political refugee status on July 30, 2021, 27 years after arriving in France in 1994, according to the press release.
Since September 1, he was administrator of the parish of Saint-Martin-de-la-Risle in Brionne (Eure), after having been a priest in Gisors (Eure) for 20 years, according to the press release.
Accused of having played a role in the 1994 massacres in Rwanda, Wenceslas Munyeshyaka was dismissed in 2015.
On Thursday, the Pope accepted the resignation of the Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit, less than a week after the request of the person, accused of having had an intimate relationship with a woman, which the person denies.
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In 2014, an association “
Children of silence, children of priests
” (EDS) was created.
She had meetings with the episcopate in 2019 to obtain recognition, but discussions were unsuccessful at this stage.