Pascal Wintzer, Archbishop of Poitiers, France, announced this Friday (9) that Italian priest Gabriele Arcangelo Biagioni has been suspended for alleged sexual abuse by clergy while working in Brazil in the 1990s.

According to a published note, the priest of Saint-Junien in Mellois appeared “spontaneously” to report that he had “sexually assaulted minors”.

Wintzer later reported “facts committed abroad” to the local prosecutor’s office, and the case is now pending in a French court.

Biagioni has been kept away from all “religious ministries” since December 7, when the facts were revealed, and “any contact with minors” was banned. The archbishop also stated that he has received no complaints against religious crimes committed on French soil.

“First and foremost, I approve of the importance of making such a decision public in order to protect potential victims,” ​​the official said, noting that anyone who has any complaints about the priest’s performance in the country “calls the authorities”.

France is one of the countries with the highest number of investigations into cases of harassment committed by chaplains or lay officials of the Catholic Church in the country. A report published last year estimated that more than 330 young children in the country have suffered such abuse since the 1950s.