Accused of paedophilia for incidents that date back to 1972, the auxiliary bishop of Paris, former spokesman of the French Bishops’ Conference, Jean-Michel Di Falco, issued a writ for defamation on 19 March, and immediately informed the archdiocese of Paris of his action. According to the press release issued by the archdiocese on the same day, Msgr. Di Falco has repeated that the accusations “are wholly devoid of foundation”. Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris had already been informed of the alleged facts by a letter in March 2001. According to the current procedure envisaged for such cases, the Cardinal had then taken steps to organize meetings between the author of the letter and a religious of the diocese. The communiqué of 19 March reports that these meetings took place between April and June 2001, adding that “the analysis of the credibility of the accusations does not lead us to call into question either the integrity or the conduct of Msgr. Di Falco”. In order to deny some reports in the press that appeared in France following the publication of the facts of the case, the archdiocese of Paris emphasizes that if Msgr. Di Falco, “due to his considerable experience in the field of the mass media, has resigned from a substantial part of his duties in Paris”, that is to enable him to “dedicate himself as a priority to the creation and development of French Catholic radio stations. Contrary to what has been said and written, the assignment to his new post has no connection with the letter received in March 2001”.
