The archbishop of Lyon, the most senior French cleric caught up in the global paedophilia scandal that has rocked the Catholic church, announced his resignation Thursday after being given a six-month suspended jail term for failing to report sex abuse.
A court in Lyon, in southeastern France, had ruled that 68-year-old Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who was not present for the verdict, was guilty of failing to report allegations of abuse of minors committed by a priest in the 1980s and 1990s.
He is the third senior French cleric to be found guilty of failing to report sex abuse.
"I have decided to go to see the Holy Father to hand him my resignation. He will receive me in a few days' time," Barbarin told a news conference after the verdict.
"Independently from my own fate, I wish once again to stress my compassion for the victims," he said.
He was on trial at a time when the Catholic Church has been hit by abuse scandals in countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Chile and the United States.
Barbarin "in all conscience" chose not to tell authorities about the abuse allegations "in order to preserve the institution to which he belongs", Thursday's verdict read.
"By wanting to avoid a scandal caused by a priest's multiple sex offences, and probably in seeking to conform to inadequate decisions taken by bishops before him, Philippe Barbarin preferred to take the risk that justice would be unable to uncover a great number of victims of sexual abuse and prevent them from voicing their pain," it added.
Francois Devaux, who leads a victims' group in Lyon, called the verdict a "major victory for child protection".
"It's a signal, a strong message sent to the French church, to the world and to Pope Francis," he told reporters.
Devaux was one of up to 85 victims of priest Bernard Preynat, who was charged with sexual abuse in 2016 and is expected to be tried this year.
"It's obvious that this verdict will hugely encourage people to speak out," Devaux added.
The suspended nature of the jail sentence means Barbarin will not serve time behind bars, but his defence lawyer immediately announced he would appeal.
"The reasoning of the court is not convincing," Jean-Felix Luciani said. "We will contest this decision by all the means possible."
"I cannot see what I am guilty of," Barbarin had told the court at the start of the trial in January. "I never tried to hide, let alone cover up these horrible facts."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content