Overview

• The Conference of Bishops of France formally urged Archbishop Guy de Kerimel on August 10 to rescind his decision to appoint Dominique Spina as chancellor of the Toulouse diocese.
• Dominique Spina was convicted in 2006 for raping a 16-year-old student in 1993 and sentenced to five years in prison, including one year suspended.
• Archbishop de Kerimel appointed Spina in early June, citing mercy and asserting that Spina was fit for administrative duties.
• The bishops warned that assigning a convicted priest to such a symbolic role risks reopening victims’ wounds and stressed that survivor testimony has launched a demanding conversion process within the Church.
• Victim groups such as Collectif Notre-Dame de Bétharram have denounced the promotion as unacceptable and retraumatizing for abuse survivors.