A Fraternal Rebuke: French Archbishop Condemns Reinstatement of Convicted Rapist as Diocesan Chancellor
The case of Fr. Dominique Spina reignites outrage over clerical abuse, episcopal accountability, and the tension between mercy and justice in the French Church.
The Archdiocese of Toulouse has become the epicentre of a new scandal after the appointment of a convicted sex offender to the office of diocesan chancellor. Archbishop Guy de Kerimel defended his June nomination of Fr. Dominique Spina—convicted in 2006 of raping a teenage boy while serving as a school chaplain—as a merciful and pragmatic decision. But another French bishop, Hervé Giraud of Viviers, has now issued what he terms a “fraternal correction,” calling the appointment “unacceptable and untenable.”¹
Spina’s appointment, effective from September 1, drew immediate backlash when it was disclosed he had previously served prison time for multiple counts of rape committed in the 1990s. The victim, 16 at the time, was a student at the Catholic school of Notre-Dame de Bétharram, an institution already marred by a broader abuse scandal spanning decades.²
While Archbishop de Kerimel maintained that the appointment does not involve public ministry and is “not a promotion,”³ Giraud challenged the theological and pastoral reasoning behind the decision. In a public statement on July 21 and a subsequent interview with La Vie, Giraud stated that “after so many years of awareness, how could a guilty priest, even one who had served his sentence, still be appointed to such a position which requires a ‘reputation of integrity’?”⁴
He continued: “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it… the appointment is unacceptable to victims of sexual violence and untenable for the Church’s witness.”⁵
Fr. Spina was sentenced in 2006 to five years in prison—four of which he served—for the rape of a teenage seminarian between 1993 and 1994. After his release, he was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Toulouse, where he was, controversially, allowed to serve in a parish setting, including responsibilities involving children. It was only after a 2016 exposé by Mediapart that Spina was removed from public ministry.⁶
Despite this, Archbishop de Kerimel—who succeeded Archbishop Robert Le Gall in 2022—defended the decision to appoint Spina as chancellor by appealing to the Christian mandate of forgiveness and personal transformation:
“Rape is a crime… but not to show mercy is to lock the abuser into a social death… I think we can say [Spina has] an unimpaired reputation today, if we believe… that a person’s conversion is possible.”⁷
Critics argue that such reasoning bypasses the canonical requirement that a chancellor possess “unimpaired reputation” (Canon 482 §1) and overlooks the scandal caused by failing to centre the Church’s responsibility to victims. Archbishop Giraud alluded to this dynamic in his July 22 remarks:
“Our institution is slow… We will have to progress in the way we ‘correct’ ourselves fraternally… What worries me most is that not only clergy but also lay faithful are unable to understand the point of view of all those who have suffered.”⁸
This is not the first time the French hierarchy has been criticised for its handling of abuse cases. In 2022, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard admitted to abusing a 14-year-old girl in the 1980s.⁹ Other prominent figures—Abbé Pierre, Fr. Georges Finet, Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe, and Jean Vanier—have also been posthumously accused of abuse.¹⁰
The appointment of Fr. Spina as chancellor not only risks undermining trust in ecclesial leadership but also highlights what many believe to be a persistent institutional failure: prioritising clerical rehabilitation over ecclesial credibility and victim justice.
The storm surrounding Toulouse will likely intensify if other bishops remain silent. For now, Archbishop Giraud stands alone in issuing what may be the first genuinely fraternal correction of its kind in the French episcopate since the abuse crisis erupted anew.
- La Vie, “Mgr Hervé Giraud dénonce la nomination d’un prêtre condamné pour viol comme chancelier,” 22 July 2025.
- Mediapart, “Le retour discret d’un prêtre condamné pour viol dans le diocèse de Toulouse,” 1 April 2016.
- Famille Chrétienne, “Mgr de Kerimel défend sa décision: ‘Refuser la miséricorde, c’est rétablir une peine de mort sociale,’” 5 June 2025.
- La Vie, ibid.
- Bluesky post by Mgr Hervé Giraud, 21 July 2025.
- Mediapart, ibid.
- Famille Chrétienne, ibid.
- La Vie, ibid.
- Le Monde, “Le cardinal Ricard reconnaît des faits de pédocriminalité,” 7 November 2022.
- La Croix, “Jean Vanier, une figure spirituelle éclaboussée par des abus,” 22 February 2020.
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