France has rejected a request from a visiting delegation of Canadian Inuits to extradite a priest accused of sexual assault on young members of the Indigenous minority in the 1960s. The justice ministry said that France does not extradite its nationals.
A delegation of Canadian Inuits travelled to Paris earlier this month to press France to fulfil a request filed by Canada in August for the extradition of 92-year-old Joannes Rivoire, who lives in the French city of Lyon.
Rivoire, who holds both French and Canadian nationality, is accused of sexually abusing young Inuit in the 1960s while he was on a mission in the far north of Canada. He denies the accusations.
In turning down the extradition request, the justice ministry in Paris added that it has asked the Canadian authorities for details of the case, to see if proceedings can be instigated in France.
Rivoire left Canada in 1993 after 33 years of working as a missionary. He has been accused of sexual assault of three minors as well as a new complaint of an assault that allegedly took place 47 years ago.
Delegation hopes to meet priest
The Inuit delegation will now move on to Lyon, where they hope to meet with Rivoire himself.
Canada's extradition request was announced shortly after Pope Francis completed a landmark trip to Canada, where he apologised for the abuse of indigenous children in Catholic-run schools over decades.
In the Canadian north, Rivoire's case has become emblematic of the impunity of sexual abusers in the Church for decades.
"The pope is the leader of the Catholic Church and ... he must be able to require Rivoire to face his charges," Kilikvak Kabloona, the chief executive of an organisation representing the Inuit in Nunavut, said during the Pope's visit.
