New report shows 216,000 children have been sexually abused in the French Catholic Church

A French report released on Tuesday found that about 216,000 children have been sexually abused in the French Catholic Church over the past 70 years, in the first great French recognition of the devastating phenomenon.

The chairman of the commission that published the report, Jean-Marc Sauvé, said the estimate, based on scientific research, includes abuse by priests and other clergy, as well as non-religious people involved in the church. He said about 80% are male victims.

“The consequences are very serious,” said Sauvé. “About 60% of men and women who have been sexually abused face significant issues in their love or sex life.”

The document 2,500 pages drawn up by an independent commission arises when the Catholic Church in France, as in other countries, seeks to confront shameful secrets long hidden.

The report says that some 3,000 aggressors child, two thirds of them are priests, they were working in the church during this period. Sauvé said the total death toll includes some 216,000 people abused by priests and other clergy.

Olivier Savignac, director of the association of victims “Parler et revivre”, which contributed to the investigation, told The Associated Press that the high ratio of victims per attacker is particularly “terrifying for French society, for Catholic Church “.”

The commission worked for two and a half years, listening to victims and witnesses and studying church, court, police and press records from the 1950s onwards. A hotline launched at the start of the investigation received 6,500 calls from alleged victims or of people claiming to know a victim.

Sauvé denounced the attitude of the church until the early 2000s as “a deep and cruel contempt for the victims”. “They were not believed or listened to” and, on some occasions, it was suspected that they were “partly responsible” for what had happened, he lamented.

Sauvé said 22 alleged crimes that can still be prosecuted have been referred to prosecutors. More than 40 cases too old to prosecute but involving alleged perpetrators still alive have been referred to church officials.

The commission made 45 recommendations on how to prevent abuse. These included training priests and other clergy, reviewing canon law, the legal code the Vatican uses to govern the church, and promoting policies to recognize and compensate victims, said Safe.

The report comes after a scandal surrounding the now sacked priest Bernard Preynat rocked the French Catholic Church. Last year, Preynat was found guilty of child sexual abuse and was sentenced to five years in prison. He admitted to having abused more than 75 children for decades.

One of Preynat’s victims, François Devaux, leader of the La Parole Libérée (“Le mot libéré”) victim group, told The Associated Press that “With this report, the French church is for the first time going to the root of this systemic problem. The deviant institution must reform. “

He said the number of casualties identified in the report is “minimal”.

“Some victims did not dare to speak or trust the commission,” he said, expressing concern that the church in France “still did not understand” and tried to minimize its responsibilities.

The church must not only recognize the events, but also compensate the victims, Devaux said. “It is imperative that the church repair the damage caused by all of these crimes, and (financial) compensation is the first step.”

The Preynat affair led to the resignation last year of the former archbishop of Lyon, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, accused of not having reported the abuses to civil authorities when he became aware of it in the 2010s. case.

The French archbishops, in a message to parishioners read at Sunday mass across the country, said the release of the report is “a test of truth and a difficult and serious time.”

“We will receive and study these findings to adapt our actions,” the message said. “The fight against pedophilia concerns us all … Our support and prayers will continue to go to all those who have been abused in the church.”

Pope Francis issued a revolutionary new ecclesiastical law in May 2019 that requires all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report sexual abuse and cover-ups committed by priests by their superiors to church authorities.

In June, Francis quickly rejected an offer from Cardinal Reinhard Marx, one of Germany’s most prominent clergymen and close advisor to the Pope, to resign from his post as Archbishop of Munich and Freising for mismanagement of cases. abuse by the church. But he said a reform process was needed and that every bishop must take responsibility for the “catastrophe” of the crisis.

REQUEST FOR PARDON

The president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of France, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, apologized to some 330,000 victims of child sexual abuse by the Church who made themselves known thanks to a pioneering report requested by the institution.

Moulins-Beaufort said he was dismayed by the report’s conclusions and the number of victims.

“Their voices shake us, their numbers distress us,” he said. “I wish that day to apologize, forgive each of you,” he told the victims.

The commission that wrote the report called for compensation for the victims and strong church action.

(with AP information)

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