The Latest on a church sex abuse trial in France (all times local):
10:15 a.m.
A French court has found top Catholic official Cardinal Philippe Barbarin guilty for failing to report to justice accusations against a pedophile priest.
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2019 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin waits for the start of his trial at the Lyon courthouse, central France. Pope. A French court on Thursday March 7, 2019 is expected to acquit a cardinal and five other defendants accused of protecting a pedophile priest, but alleged victims say France's most important church sex abuse trial has at least allowed them to bring the affair into the open. (AP PhotoLaurent Cipriani, File)
In a surprise decision Thursday in France's most important church sex abuse trial, the Lyon court handed Barbarin a six-month suspended prison sentence for not reporting the facts in the period between July 2014 and June 2015.
The Rev. Bernard Preynat's alleged victims said Barbarin and other church officials covered up for him for years, but the statute of limitations had expired on some charges and even the victims had expected that the cardinal would be acquitted.
The prosecutor had also argued against convicting, saying there were no grounds to prove legal wrongdoing.
The priest has confessed to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 80s and will be tried separately.
8:45 a.m.
A French court is expected to acquit a cardinal and five other defendants accused of protecting a pedophile priest at the end of France's most important church sex abuse trial.
The Lyon court will deliver its verdict on Thursday morning.
The Rev. Bernard Preynat's alleged victims said church hierarchy covered up for him for years. But by the time the four-day trial reached court in Lyon last January, the statute of limitations had expired on some charges.
Even the prosecutor argued against convicting Cardinal Philippe Barbarin and other church officials, saying there were no grounds to prove legal wrongdoing.
Barbarin faces up to three years in prison and fines if convicted.
The priest has confessed to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 80s and will be tried separately.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The process of vetting candidates for some of the European Union’s most important jobs bogged down in acrimony on Wednesday as the biggest political faction in the bloc’s parliament was accused of collaborating with the hard right.
Since Nov. 4, senior lawmakers have been questioning the 26 new members of the EU’s increasingly powerful executive branch, the European Commission, to see whether they’re suitable to lead the bloc for the next five years on policies like trade, agriculture or foreign policy.
The hearings wound up on Tuesday when the six most senior members of the commission -– to be led again by President Ursula von der Leyen –- were questioned for three hours. But key votes on their performance were postponed as political tensions mounted.
The leader of the pro-environment Greens, Terry Reintke, accused the big conservative group in parliament of “cheap politics and shady maneuvers.” She said that its tactics “are creating damaging instability in the EU institutions.”
Von der Leyen is a member of that pan-European political group –- the European People’s Party. The EPP remained the biggest faction in parliament following EU-wide elections in June, but other centrist formations like the Greens lost ground as the hard right consolidated its position.
It means that the EPP can operate without its usual mainstream political allies. Fourteen of its members have been nominated to the commission.
The group has already turned to the hard right –- home to parties like Italian Premier Georgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, which has neo-fascist roots, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s stridently nationalist Fidesz –- to force through the hearing schedule.
The second biggest bloc in the assembly, the center-left Socialists and Democrats, accused the EPP of defying an understanding that mainstream pro-European groups would leave the hard right out in the cold.
The socialists accused the EPP leadership of “irresponsible behavior” by working with the Spanish populist party Vox to accuse its nominee for the EU’s top climate and competition post, Teresa Ribera, of failing to do enough to prevent the catastrophic floods in eastern Spain.
The socialists said they voted in July to give von der Leyen a second term at the helm “on the basis of a pro-European, democratic majority.” But recently, they added, “we have seen that the EPP’s leadership is willing to risk the stability of the European Institutions.”
The Greens say they will refuse to back Meloni ally Raffaele Fitto as a new executive vice president — one of five at the commission — to oversee “cohesion policy,” which helps finance infrastructure projects with a big slice of the EU’s massive budget.
“Through their desperation to form unscrupulous alliances with the far-right, the EPP is undermining the democratic process of evaluating the skills of candidate commissioners,” Reintke said.
Von der Leyen had hoped proceedings would be wrapped up so that her new commission could start work by early December. It was not immediately clear when the endorsement votes might take place, or what allies the EPP might choose to secure them.
Netherland's Wopke Hoekstra, nominee for European Commissioner for Climate, Net-Zero and Clean Growth, gestures prior to making his opening address during a confirmation hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Estonia's Kaja Kallas, nominee for European Union High Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, speaks during her hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Member of European Parliament Marion Marechal, center, listens as France's Stephane Sejourne, nominee for European Commission Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, makes his opening address during his confirmation hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Member of European Parliament Sarah Knafo, right, listens to the opening address of France's Stephane Sejourne, nominee for European Commission Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, during his confirmation hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Italy's Raffaele Fitto, nominee for European Commissioner Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, speaks during his hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Spain's Teresa Ribera Rodriguez, nominee for European Union Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, attends her confirmation hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Spain's Teresa Ribera Rodriguez, nominee for European Union Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, attends her confirmation hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
