French priest says bishops punished him for abuse petition
PARIS (AP) — A Catholic priest said Friday that he has been punished by church leaders in France after he gathered more than 100,000 signatures for a petition calling for a cardinal to resign over his handling of child sexual abuse cases.
The Rev. Pierre Vignon said he learned in an email Thursday that he would no longer be considered for the church court where he has served as a judge since 2002.
In a phone interview, Vignon said the decision showed church leaders are of two minds about how to deal with sex predators within the Catholic clergy.
"They say, 'We want to do everything,' but to whistleblowers, 'We want to shut you up,'" Vignon said.