The former archbishop of Lyon, Philippe Barbarin, was present this Wednesday, November 29 at the funeral of the former mayor, Gérard Collomb. His presence was noticed and criticized by some Lyonnais.
It’s a presence that makes you react. This Wednesday, November 29, the former archbishop of Lyon, Philippe Barbarin, was at Saint-Jean Cathedral, in Old Lyon, during the funeral of the former mayor, Gérard Collomb.
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, acquitted in early 2020 following his trial for non-denunciation of the sexual abuse of a priest, notably blessed the coffin of Gérard Collomb.
A link between the two men
His mere presence has led to strong criticism, particularly on social networks. “What a shame”, “what is he doing there”, “do you find this normal”, question and are indignant among Internet users in reaction to the sequence of blessing of the coffin, published on account X of BFM Lyon. Cardinal Barbarin admitted, after his acquittal, that this affair will “always stick” to “his face”.
The arrival of the former archbishop of Lyon can be explained by the link with Gérard Collomb. “The day Gérard Collomb died, it was normal for me to come,” explained the former archbishop of Lyon ahead of the funeral, in an interview given this Wednesday to Point.
The diocese of Lyon confirms to BFM Lyon that everything related to the celebration during the funeral was “at the request of the family” of Gérard Collomb.
“I loved him so much”
The two men were very close and Gérard Collomb was one of the first, if not the first, to defend Cardinal Barbarin in the case of the non-denunciation of sexual assaults.
“I don’t see how we can accuse him of facts that took place twenty years before his arrival in Lyon,” Gérard Collomb declared in 2020. The two men were also close because their backgrounds are quite similar: Gérard Collomb was elected mayor in 2001 for the first time, while Philippe Barbarin became archbishop of Lyon in 2002.
“We walked together. We often found ourselves side by side. I loved him very much. We had direct, simple, fraternal relations”, continues Cardinal Barbarin to Le Point.
Since resigning from his functions as archbishop in 2020, Philippe Barbarin has become a professor at the Rennes seminary and chaplain at the mother house of the Little Sisters of the Poor. He retained his title of cardinal by decision of Pope Francis.