Another was dismissed for lack of evidence. Two were dismissed because the respective statutes of limitations had expired. In 2005, he reportedly helped craft Vatican guidelines aimed at keeping gay men out of the priesthood.įollowing the accusation made against Anatrella by Lamarca, a former seminarian sent to Anatrella for therapy in the 1980s, three complaints were made against him in French courts in 2008. Anatrella even assisted the French bishops’ conference in drafting its first guidelines against sexual abuse in 2000. Would be a shocking downfall for someone who once moved at the highest echelons of the French church.
His pending trial could eventually lead to Anatrella being laicised, which, said the NCR: Anatrella also had to renounce speaking publicly without the bishop’s agreement.Īnatrella has vigorously denied the claims against him. The canonical “reprimand” has prevented him from celebrating Mass, hearing confession, or practicing therapy.
French dioceses often sent seminarians suspected of being gay to the therapist, who claimed to know how to help young men suppress their homosexuality.Īnatrella, now 80, was banned from ministering as a priest by Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit in 2018. Rumours of sexual abuse by Anatrella have been circulating for nearly two decades. Catholic Church canonical proceedings are often held with strict secrecy requirements. Neither has a date for the beginning of the proceedings been given. The charges against Anatrella have not been announced. Today, The National Catholic Reporter says that action has finally been taken against the “psychotherapist who was once an influential Vatican adviser on matters regarding human sexuality,” and that he is going to face trial in a church court over accusations of inappropriate sexual relationships with male clients. Lamarca also claims he reported Anatrella to the archbishop of Paris in 2001, but nothing was done. Daniel Lamarca, one of Anatrella’s accusers, claims the monsignor engaged in various sex acts with him in Anatrella’s Paris office by claiming he could rid Lamarca of his homosexuality if Lamarca would have sex with the father.