A retired French archbishop has admitted to making “inappropriate gestures toward a young woman of legal age,” apologized, and said that he would refrain from public activities while the case is investigated.

Archbishop Jean-Pierre Grallet, who retired from the Strasbourg archdiocese in 2017, has been living in a community of his fellow Franciscans. He said that he has written to the women involved, apologizing for his actions, which occurred in the 1980s.