The Archbishop of Toulouse, Archbishop Guy de Kerimel, has backtracked from the controversial appointment of a convicted rapist as diocesan chancellor.
On 16 August, Archbishop de Kerimel announced the appointment of a new diocesan chancellor after weeks of criticism over his initial appointment of Fr Dominique Spina.
Fr Dominique Spina was convicted in 2005 of the rape of a high-school student in Pau, southwest France, in the Diocese of Bayonne, for offences committed in 1993. The victim came from a troubled family background and believed he had a vocation to the priesthood. Spina became his spiritual director and carried out the abuse between 1992 and 1994.
