A French cardinal and other senior Catholic Church officials will go on trial accused of covering up sex abuse in what will be France's highest profile abuse case.
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon, Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, head of the Vatican's powerful doctrine office, and five other Catholic Church officials will appear before a criminal court in Lyon in January next year.
Victims of a paedophile priest, Father Bernard Preynat, say the Catholic leaders knew about Preynat's past abuses but did not report them to the authorities.
Preynat is accused of sexual aggression and rape of a minor and accused of abusing boy scouts in the 1980s. He was charged in January of with sexual aggression of minors for a person in a position of authority.
Cardinal Barbain said he was convinced the priest had reformed in 2007-2008 when they met. He admitted some 'mistakes' had been made but denied any attempt to cover up the abuse.
However he said he understood their anger.
'Their suffering is as painful today as it was 30 years ago. For them, it is appalling and unacceptable that he was allowed to carry on serving as a priest,' Barbarin told Le Monde newspaper in August.
The trial is set for January 7-9, 2019.
