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Paris Appeals Court Orders Ex-Bishop Di Falco to Pay Damages for 1970s Sexual Abuse

The ruling turns on a civil rule that starts the filing deadline when the victim’s harm is judged stable.

L’évêque Jean-Michel Di Falco (ici à Lourdes, le 14 septembre 2008) a été condamné à verser 200 000 €, le 26 mars, à un homme qui l’accusait de violences sexuelles dans les années 1970.
L’ex-évêque Jean-Michel Di Falco a été condamné jeudi 26 mars 2026 au civil par la cour d’appel à payer près de 200 000 € de préjudice à un homme l’accusant de viols et agressions sexuelles dans les années 1970.
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Overview

  • Jean-Michel di Falco, a former Paris auxiliary bishop, was ordered by the Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday to compensate Pierre-Jean Pagès, who says he was abused as a minor between 1972 and 1975.
  • Judges wrote that Di Falco’s wrongful sexual conduct caused bodily harm that must be repaired, even though any criminal case is time-barred under France’s statute of limitations.
  • The court said the civil claim was timely because French law starts a 20-year clock at the “consolidation” of harm, which it set at 2009 based on Pagès’s recovery milestones after long-term therapy.
  • The order itemizes €10,000 for sexual harm, €70,000 for professional impact, and €81,392 for temporary functional impairment, taking the award over €160,000, with AFP and Le Parisien reporting a total near €200,000.
  • Di Falco’s lawyer said he will appeal to the Court of Cassation and insisted on his innocence, as the case adds to France’s wider reckoning over clergy abuse and victim redress efforts.