Paris, 17 July, 2023 / 12:42 pm (ACI Africa).
Father Benjamin Sellier of the Archdiocese of Cambrai in France died by suicide in the early hours of July 11 after learning that he was being investigated for the alleged sexual abuse of a young woman.
According to local media France Bleu Nord, the 47-year-old priest was hit by a freight train at about 3 a.m. local time in the northern region near the border with Belgium.
The French media reported that a letter was found next to Sellier’s body in which he acknowledges the abuse but minimizes the facts.
“Our diocese is going through a tragic ordeal with the death of Father Benjamin Sellier. His death shocks us and plunges us into sorrow,” said the archbishop of Cambrai, Vincent Dollmann, in a July 13 statement.
“The investigation into the circumstances of the death confirms that he ended his life,” he said.
