The Archbishop of Lille, Laurent Le Boulc’h, has apologized on behalf of the diocesan Church to the victims of Jacques Delfosse, a former priest accused of numerous sexual abuses against minors, and has acknowledged failures in the institution’s handling during the years when the incidents occurred.
Le Boulc’h met on August 31 with four people representing the victims’ collective. After the meeting, the diocese reported that the archbishop had expressed his “desolation” and denounced “the scandal of a man and of silence within the Church.”
“He apologizes, on behalf of the diocesan Church, to all the victims,” the statement noted.
The diocese acknowledges “institutional failures”
The meeting was also attended by the Vicar General of Lille, Romuald Carton, and the diocese’s General Delegate, Anne-Flore Vildrac.
The diocese described the meeting as “dense and constructive” and explicitly acknowledged “certain institutional failures.” According to the statement, the encounter allowed the victims’ suffering to be heard and proposals to be examined to move forward “in the service of truth, justice, and the proper treatment of all.”
The archbishop has also opened the possibility for the victims themselves to participate in developing new proposals for support and prevention.
One of the participants, Sylvain Brouwer, said after the meeting that he felt “relieved” by the recognition that there had been problems and “too much laxity” in the Church for years. At the same time, he regretted that no explanations had been given about Delfosse’s successive transfers.
A judicial investigation involving seven victims
The apology comes just days after the Lille Public Prosecutor’s Office announced, on August 28, the opening of a judicial investigation against Delfosse for various sexual offenses, including alleged cases of rape of minors.
The investigation currently concerns incidents reported by seven victims, who were between 5 and 18 years old at the time of the alleged abuses. The offenses under investigation include rape of minors under 15 and acts allegedly committed by a person in a position of authority over the victims.
In total, 26 people have filed complaints against Delfosse, although some of the reported incidents are time-barred. The judicial investigation will allow an investigating judge to continue inquiries into those cases that can still be prosecuted.
The Diocese of Lille has stated that it hopes civil justice can act regarding the seven victims included in this new investigation.
Convicted in 2007 and dismissed from the clerical state in 2025
Jacques Delfosse served in various parishes and chaplaincies in northern France and later in the Diocese of Créteil. The accusations cover alleged incidents committed over several decades.
In 2007, he was convicted by the Val-de-Marne Court for rape and sexual assault of minors. The sentence imposed five years in prison, six months of which were to be served.
Despite that conviction, new complaints continued to emerge. A journalistic investigation published in November 2025 led numerous people to contact both the justice system and the Church’s support structures. In July of this year, Le Monde counted 62 declared victims between 1966 and 2002, 23 of whom came forward after that investigation.
Delfosse was finally dismissed from the clerical state on September 29, 2025, as the Diocese of Lille has now confirmed.
The diocese has reiterated its call for anyone who has suffered violence at the hands of the former priest to contact its listening unit and file a complaint with the authorities.
The case remains open in the French courts, while the Church in Lille now seeks to clarify its own actions during the decades when Delfosse exercised his ministry.