Victims demand "acts" after "historic" meeting with bishops

For the first time, victims of pedophilia in the Church met Saturday with the Bishops of France gathered in Lourdes and now expect "acts" strong episcopacy, which promised the "zero tolerance" without however announce a new measure concrete.

"It's a historic day, with an unprecedented consideration of the word", greeted one of these victims, Olivier Savignac, after the meeting with prelates who took the form of small working groups, behind closed doors, and concluded with a joint press conference. "Now we are waiting for acts in the short, medium and long term (…) We will continue to shake the Church if necessary," he warned.

"This will help us to move forward," said Véronique Garnier, another victim in the Pyrenean city where the "Parliament" of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) is held until Thursday.

"There was the awareness" that we needed to "work with the victims"

"Spiritual" abuse, old or prescribed cases, prevention, judicial or canonical aspects (according to the law of the Church) were discussed during these small committees. But very few concrete announcements came out on the episcopal side, apart from the idea of ​​reinforcing prevention, particularly in the catechism, as was emphasized by Bishop Luc Crépy, the bishop in charge of pedophilia issues at the CEF, during the press conference.

According to him and two other prelates, all the bishops, including those accused of non-denunciation of pedophile attacks like Cardinal Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, participated in these forums and "strong things" were said.

For EWC President Georges Pontier, "there was the realization" that it was necessary to "work with the victims" while "before it was not in everyone's head". Shortly before, Bishop Crépy had considered that these meetings were "not an outcome" but "a beginning", the idea being to succeed in setting up "zero tolerance".

By opening the work of the "parliament" of the EFC on Saturday morning, its president Mgr. Georges Pontier had said his determination to repair "the wound" of the victims, before the 120 or so bishops gathered in the hemicycle Sainte-Bernadette Marian shrine.

A group of independent experts to shed light on badual abuse

The Catholic Church is under pressure after the revelation of new scandals this summer abroad, but also this week in Vendée, where the episcopate announced that it was investigating pedophilia facts between 1950 and 1979, in two establishments of the department.

Until Thursday, the CEF parliament will also discuss the possibility of calling on "a group of independent experts, historians and other expertise" to shed light on badual abuse in the Church in the past, confirmed Bishop Pontier. This idea, to succeed, must however be the subject of a vote, which was not acquired Saturday evening. "It's unavoidable," said Savignac, noting that the Church can not escape if it wants to remain "credible."

The idea of ​​a "compensation fund", especially for the prescribed facts, is also, according to Bishop Crépy, "an issue under debate" within the bishops. "We studied a little bit about what is done in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland," countries that have set up "not a compensation fund, but a financial gesture, which reflects both the recognition that the no one was a victim, but also (…) a gesture of solidarity, "he explained.