No Criminal Prosecution Against French Bishop Who Was Forced to Retire

The investigation against the former Bishop of Aire and Dax, Monsignor Hervé Gaschignard (58), has been closed without further action. Pope Francis accepted in April Gaschignard's resignation, due to "persisting rumors over inappropriate pastoral attitudes of the bishop" according to a statement of the French Bishops.

Allegedly, Gaschignard, when talking outside confession to some young people, used words and questions which were perceived as disturbing, invasive, and very intimate. The witnesses also describe sustained and insistent physical contacts that were unnecessary, as well as games, which the prelate liked, such as the Paquito el Chocolatero, a Spanish Paso Doble, sometimes accompanied with group plays involving body contacts.

Picture: Hervé Gaschignard, © Peter Potrowl, CC BY-SA, #newsLqkiuuqlxe