The Archbishop of Lyon sanctions the director of the Carthusians for a relationship with an adult student

The Archbishop of Lyon announced this Wednesday that he had taken sanctions against the leader of an important Catholic school group, the Carthusians, because he had a relationship with a young adult student. Mgr Olivier de Germay indicates in a press release that he was “informed in June 2026” of the relationship that Father Jean-Bernard Plessy, 63, “had with an adult student placed under his authority”.

The prelate then “requested the opening of a canonical investigation” and took several “precautionary measures”, including the withdrawal of his position as director and the ban on visiting the sites of the Carthusian institution, located in Lyon and Saint-Étienne. “A criminal report was also made to the Lyon public prosecutor so that the necessary checks could be carried out,” according to the press release posted online on the school group’s website. Contacted by AFP, the prosecution was not immediately available.

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Ordained priest of the diocese of Saint-Étienne in 1991, Jean-Bernard Plessy was placed in residence and ministry in 1999 in the neighboring diocese of Lyon, where the Catholic teaching school group of 4,000 students is based, ranging from kindergarten to post-baccalaureate (BTS and license). At the end of the school year, the priest, at the head of the establishment for 27 years, wrote to the parents of the students to announce his decision to resign. “We must know how to leave with recognition and the feeling of having accomplished our duty,” he wrote in the letter dated July 9.