RELIGION

Cardinal on trial in France's biggest church sex abuse trial

Associated Press
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FILE - In this April 3, 2016 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, leads a mass for migrants in the Saint-Jean Cathedral, in Lyon, central France. The Roman Catholic Church faces another public reckoning when a French cardinal goes on trial Monday, Jan. 7, 2019 for his alleged failure to report a pedophile priest who confessed to preying on Boy Scouts and whose victims want to hold one of France’s highest church figures accountable. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2016 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon, attends to a mass for the Feast of the Assumption at the sanctuary of Lourdes, southwestern France. The Roman Catholic Church faces another public reckoning when a French cardinal goes on trial Monday, Jan. 7, 2019 for his alleged failure to report a pedophile priest who confessed to preying on Boy Scouts and whose victims want to hold one of France’s highest church figures accountable. (AP Photo/Bob Edme, File)

A Catholic cardinal and five others are going on trial in France accused of covering up for a pedophile priest who abused Boy Scouts.

It's France's most important church sex abuse case yet, and poses a new challenge for the Vatican amid growing French demands for a reckoning with clergy sexual abuse.

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin is appearing in a Lyon court Monday along with other senior church officials accused of failing to protect children from alleged abuse by the Rev. Bernard Preynat. The Vatican official in charge of sex abuse cases is among the accused, but won't appear in court because of his diplomatic immunity.

Nine alleged victims of Preynat brought the case to court. Preynat confessed to some of the abuse, and is to be tried separately.