Archbishop Guy André Marie de Kerimel of Toulouse has appointed a convicted rapist, Dominique Spina, as archdiocesan chancellor and episcopal delegate for marriages.
The priest was convicted in 2005 of the rape of a high school student in Pau, southwest France, in the Diocese of Bayonne, 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.
Spina initially prevented the young man from entering the diocesan seminary. However, he was eventually admitted and later reported the abuse to the seminary director. Shortly after the report, the victim was <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affaire_Dominique_Spina#Historique">excluded </a>from the seminary for “lack of maturity”. A complaint was filed in 2002, and Spina was taken into custody.
As is sadly often the case with abuse victims, the man—who went on to become a schoolteacher—has since also been <a href="https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2016/05/04/2337865-une-ex-victime-a-son-tour-mise-en-examen.html?">charged</a> with abuse.
Spina was sentenced to four years in prison for what he described as a “consensual relationship”. According to <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2016/05/03/apres-avoir-purge-une-peine-pour-viol-un-pretre-est-releve-de-ses-fonctions_4912857_3224.html">reports</a>, concerns were raised during the trial about the risk of reoffending, with psychiatric experts noting that the priest appeared to exhibit “paranoid, narcissistic and perverse dispositions” and a “lack of guilt”.
After serving two years of his sentence, he was granted parole in 2007 and transferred to the Diocese of Toulouse by then-Archbishop Robert Le Gall, while remaining incardinated in his original diocese. In Toulouse, he was to be given mostly administrative responsibilities, including minor pastoral duties with adults only, and was provided with psychological support.
In 2009, he requested to resume his priestly ministry, which was granted under supervision. However, he became parish priest of Fronton-Bouloc-Castelnau-d’Estrétefonds, where he was the only priest and oversaw youth ministry. The bishop of Toulouse at the time defended the decision, arguing that Spina did not have unsupervised contact with children. In 2016, following media backlash, the bishop relieved him of his duties.
Despite this, the June 2025 <a href="https://toulouse.catholique.fr/publication/decrets-nominations/nominations-du-2-juin-2025/">appointments</a> of the archdiocese state: “Father Dominique SPINA, Priest of the Diocese of Toulouse, Vice-Chancellor of the Diocese of Toulouse, is appointed Chancellor and Episcopal Delegate for Marriages.”
In <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2025/07/07/l-archeveque-de-toulouse-nomme-chancelier-du-diocese-un-pretre-condamne-pour-viol-sur-mineur-en-2006_6619654_3224.html?">response</a>, the Archbishop of Toulouse said he had “taken the side of mercy”. Defending the appointment, he stated: “Considering that we have nothing to reproach this priest for over the past thirty years for acts likely to be the subject of legal, canonical or civil proceedings, I have therefore chosen to appoint him to this administrative function.”
Fraternité Victimes, an association that supports victims of abuse in the Church, responded: “Talking about mercy to defend this promotion is simply scandalous.”
