French Church

France should charge visitors a small fee to see the Notre-Dame cathedral to help the country keep its world-famous churches and cathedrals in shape, the culture minister said.

The world's oldest known person, French nun Lucile Randon, has died aged 118, a spokesman told AFP on Tuesday.

Eleven former or serving French bishops have been accused of sexual violence, including the former bishop of Bordeaux who has confessed to assaulting a minor 35 years ago, a senior church body announced Monday.

Catholic bishops in France agreed Monday to sell part of the Church's extensive real estate holdings to compensate thousands of victims of child sex abuse at the hands of clergy.

Senior members of France's Catholic hierarchy knelt in a show of penance at the shrine of Lourdes Saturday, a day after bishops accepted the church's responsibility for decades of child abuse.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday as the French Catholic Church battles a storm over clerical child sex abuse and the sanctity of confession.

Protecting children from sexual abuse is an "absolute priority" for the Catholic Church, a French archbishop said Tuesday, walking back previous comments suggesting priests should not violate the secrets of confession.

Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed his "shame" at the sexual abuse of children by French Catholic clergy, laid bare in a devastating report this week.

Pope Francis expressed his "great sorrow" for the victims of sexual abuse by French Catholic clergy after the publication on Tuesday of a devastating report, a Vatican spokesman said.

French clergy have sexually abused more than 200,000 children over the past 70 years, a major investigation released on Tuesday found, and its authors accused the Catholic Church of turning a blind eye for too long and urged it to reform.

Thousands of paedophiles have operated inside the French Catholic Church since 1950, the head of an independent commission investigating the scandal told AFP, days ahead of the release of its report.

France's Protestant church has celebrated its first wedding of same-sex pastors, authorities said Monday, six years after gay clergy first won the right to marry.

The Tunisian assailant who killed three people at a church in France has tested positive for Covid-19, which could further delay his questioning, a source close to the inquiry said Tuesday.

French police have made two new arrests in the probe into an attack on a church in the southern city of Nice that left three dead, as authorities seek to understand the profile of the suspected killer, judicial sources said on Sunday.

Security was tightened at the French Consulate here on Saturday in the wake of an attack on a church in France, said Superintendent of Police Maran.

France should charge visitors a small fee to see the Notre-Dame cathedral to help the country keep its world-famous churches and cathedrals in shape, the culture minister said.

The world's oldest known person, French nun Lucile Randon, has died aged 118, a spokesman told AFP on Tuesday.

Eleven former or serving French bishops have been accused of sexual violence, including the former bishop of Bordeaux who has confessed to assaulting a minor 35 years ago, a senior church body announced Monday.

Catholic bishops in France agreed Monday to sell part of the Church's extensive real estate holdings to compensate thousands of victims of child sex abuse at the hands of clergy.

Senior members of France's Catholic hierarchy knelt in a show of penance at the shrine of Lourdes Saturday, a day after bishops accepted the church's responsibility for decades of child abuse.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday as the French Catholic Church battles a storm over clerical child sex abuse and the sanctity of confession.

Protecting children from sexual abuse is an "absolute priority" for the Catholic Church, a French archbishop said Tuesday, walking back previous comments suggesting priests should not violate the secrets of confession.

Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed his "shame" at the sexual abuse of children by French Catholic clergy, laid bare in a devastating report this week.

Pope Francis expressed his "great sorrow" for the victims of sexual abuse by French Catholic clergy after the publication on Tuesday of a devastating report, a Vatican spokesman said.

French clergy have sexually abused more than 200,000 children over the past 70 years, a major investigation released on Tuesday found, and its authors accused the Catholic Church of turning a blind eye for too long and urged it to reform.

Thousands of paedophiles have operated inside the French Catholic Church since 1950, the head of an independent commission investigating the scandal told AFP, days ahead of the release of its report.

France's Protestant church has celebrated its first wedding of same-sex pastors, authorities said Monday, six years after gay clergy first won the right to marry.

The Tunisian assailant who killed three people at a church in France has tested positive for Covid-19, which could further delay his questioning, a source close to the inquiry said Tuesday.

French police have made two new arrests in the probe into an attack on a church in the southern city of Nice that left three dead, as authorities seek to understand the profile of the suspected killer, judicial sources said on Sunday.

Security was tightened at the French Consulate here on Saturday in the wake of an attack on a church in France, said Superintendent of Police Maran.