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Vatican Says Pope Sought Verdun Bishop’s Resignation Over Relations With Women as Probe Begins

Church investigators are reviewing the case after a civil referral, under temporary limits on his residence plus a ban on public ministry.

L'ancien évêque de Verdun Jean-Paul Guschin, le 8 novembre 2022, à Lourdes, dans les Hautes-Pyrénées

Overview

  • The Apostolic Nunciature in France disclosed that Pope Francis solicited and accepted the September 27 resignation of Jean‑Paul Gusching after reports he maintained relations with women.
  • A preliminary canonical investigation is underway, entrusted to Mgr Stanislas Lalanne and Mgr Philippe Ballot, with no findings announced to date.
  • The Vatican filed a report with French civil authorities, though the Verdun prosecutor told AFP she had not been informed of the revocation or its grounds.
  • Precautionary measures require Gusching to live away from Amiens and Verdun and to refrain from any public liturgical or pastoral activity.
  • In an interview cited by AFP, Gusching acknowledged one relationship with an adult woman from about 2015 to 2022 and criticized the situation as unjust, while further details remain undisclosed.