Caen, France - A French bishop was found guilty of failing to denounce a paedophile priest from his parish and was given a three-month suspended prison term on Tuesday.  The verdict against Pierre Pican, bishop of the western town of Bayeux, marked the first time a Roman Catholic priest in France has been convicted for failing to disclose the sexual abuse and mistreatment of minors.  The court also ordered Pican, 66, to pay a symbolic one-franc fine to each of the four civil parties in the case.

Prosecutors had asked that Pican be sentenced to a suspended prison term of between four and six months.  Pican had admitted during his two-day trial in June to concealing the paedophile activities of Father Rene Bissey for two years before the priest was arrested in 1998, but said he would do the same again rather than break the sanctity of the confessional.  Bissey was sentenced to 18 years in prison in October last year on 11 counts of sexual abuse of children in his care. According to the charge sheet, Pican sent Bissey to a clinic for psychiatric treatment after learning of his offences and then allowed him to resume parish work.

Pican's trial took place amid mounting criticism of the French Roman Catholic Church which has been accused of not taking charges of paedophilia seriously. According to Church officials in France, of 25 000 priests nationwide, there are 19 under investigation for rape or sexual assault on minors. In addition, 30 priests have been convicted in recent years on the same charges and 11 of them are serving prison sentences.

• Another verdict was expected later on Tuesday in southern France in a case also involving a priest charged with failing to disclose the sexual abuse of minors.  Father Hubert Barral, 67, who heads the parish in the village of Vernegues, faces up to five years in prison if convicted on a charge of failing to assist a person in danger and failing to report a crime.  In his testimony before the court on Monday, Barral defended the man accused of having sexually abused or raped two children, as well as a boy over the age of 18 who had psychological problems, describing the rapes as "moments when the children flowered."  The alleged crimes took place between 1986 and 1998. - Sapa-AFP  http://www.iol.co.za/html/frame_news.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw999609183498B216