Pope Francis has named Bishop Olivier de Germay of Ajaccio, Corsica, to be the new archbishop of Lyon, France. De Germay is pictured in an undated photo. (CNS/courtesy Diocese of Ajaccio)
by Catholic News Service
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Pope Francis has named Bishop Olivier de Germay of Ajaccio, Corsica, to be the new archbishop of Lyon, France, succeeding a cardinal whose conviction on charges of failing to report clerical sex abuse was overturned.
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin's conviction was overturned in January, but he said he asked the pope to allow him to resign for the good of the archdiocese. The pope accepted his resignation in March, seven months before the cardinal's 70th birthday.
De Germay was born Sept. 18, 1960, in Tours. He studied at a French military high school and military academy, earning a degree in engineering and reaching the rank of captain.
He began his seminary studies in France in 1991 and later was sent to the Pontifical French Seminary in Rome. He earned a license in moral theology from the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences.
Ordained to the priesthood May 17, 1998, for the Archdiocese of Toulouse, he served in a variety of parishes and taught sacramental theology and the theology of marriage at the Institut Catholique de Toulouse.
In February 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him bishop of Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica, a Mediterranean island that is a region of France.
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