Denver, Colo., Dec 20, 2022 / 15:45 pm
Bishop Emeritus Emmanuel Lafont of Cayenne, French Guyana, has been found guilty of sexual abuse in a canonical court and banned from public ministry, while the country’s civil authorities are investigating charges against him.
“He is under house arrest, in a monastery on mainland France,” the Bishops’ Conference of France told Agence France Presse. He must conduct a life of prayer and repentance. The bishops’ conference confirmed that the bishop faces a civil investigation.
Numerous sources have confirmed to the French newspaper La Croix that the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops delivered a guilty sentence against the bishop emeritus in October.
As a consequence of the judgment against him, he may not wear his bishop’s insignia, the miter, or use a crozier. He must avoid contact with acquaintances in French Guyana and also avoid contact with young migrants.