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French premier calls on Catholic cardinal to ‘act’ on abuse

FILE - In this March 1, 2013 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin arrives for a meeting at the Vatican. Three of the numerous victims of an alleged French pedophile priest have asked Pope Francis to help them understand why Catholic Church officials failed to protect them. The victims were boy scouts in the 1980s when allegedly molested by Bernard Preynat. The scandal gained attention this month when Cardinal Barbarin and five others were handed preliminary charges for failure to denounce a crime and endangering others (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
FILE - In this March 1, 2013 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin arrives for a meeting at the Vatican. Three of the numerous victims of an alleged French pedophile priest have asked Pope Francis to help them understand why Catholic Church officials failed to protect them. The victims were boy scouts in the 1980s when allegedly molested by Bernard Preynat. The scandal gained attention this month when Cardinal Barbarin and five others were handed preliminary charges for failure to denounce a crime and endangering others (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File) FILE - In this March 1, 2013 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin arrives for a meeting at the Vatican. Three of the numerous victims of an alleged French pedophile priest have asked Pope Francis to help them understand why Catholic Church officials failed to protect them. The victims were boy scouts in the 1980s when allegedly molested by Bernard Preynat. The scandal gained attention this month when Cardinal Barbarin and five others were handed preliminary charges for failure to denounce a crime and endangering others (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

PARIS (AP) – France’s prime minister has appealed to a Catholic cardinal at the center of abuse cover-up allegations to take action, but stopped short of calling for his resignation.

Manuel Valls said Tuesday that Cardinal Philippe Barbarin should “take responsibility and talk and act.”

But Barbarin – among six church officials targeted in a preliminary judicial investigation- told a news conference he never concealed cases of child abuse reported to him.

Barbarin, Lyon’s cardinal since 2003, said he may have made mistakes, but stressed: “I have never, never, never covered up any act of pedophilia.”

Pressure for the cardinal to resign has grown since 2015, when several men said a priest had molested them when they were boy scouts in the 1980s. The priest was charged with rape Jan. 27.