He claims to have protected no one. Gilles Reithinger, auxiliary bishop of Strasbourg, defended himself on Wednesday for covering up a sex scandal in which the bishop of La Rochelle, Georges Colomb, is involved. The latter asked to be “withdrawn” from his duties for the time of a judicial investigation.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation following a report from the Foreign Missions of Paris (MEP), “concerning acts of a sexual nature” alleged against Bishop Colomb and dating back to 2013, when he headed this organization.
According to information published by The cross, Christian family And The lifeMgr Reithinger, who at the time was vicar general of the MEP, would have been aware of the accusations made by an occasional resident against Georges Colomb, and would not have informed the justice system.
“Oil Massage”
In a lengthy written response to France 3 Alsacethe auxiliary bishop of Strasbourg reports that this man complained to him about an “indecent” proposal that Georges Colomb would have made to him, namely “an oil massage to relax him”.
But “never” this resident “told me that he would have had a sexual relationship with Georges Colomb or that he would have been sexually assaulted. On the other hand, he expressed his anger to me that a Superior General had been able to make such a proposal to him”, testifies Bishop Reithinger, explaining that in these circumstances he had no reason to take legal action. However, he claims to have informed the Apostolic Nuncio (the Vatican’s ambassador) at the time, Luigi Ventura.
The Auxiliary Bishop said he was “extremely shocked to read in the press that in my capacity as Vicar General or Superior General, I would have treated incompletely the cases that would have been brought to my attention”. “I do not intend to pay, even indirectly, for the poor governance of […] Georges Colomb at the head of the MEP, nor for what he could have done or committed and of which I have never been informed, ”he insists.
The premises of the MEPs welcome foreign student priests and accommodate bishops during their stay in Paris.