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Lourdes – "A historic day" for some, the hope of a step towards "zero tolerance" for others: victims of pedophilia in the Church and bishops met Saturday for the first time in Lourdes on the occasion of the badembly of the Conference of Bishops (CEF).
Long claimed by people abused by members of the clergy, this meeting took the form of small working groups, behind closed doors, in the Pyrenean city: seven victims participated at the end of the afternoon at four "forums"including about thirty bishops each on the themes of abuse or prevention.
"The Church does not just apologize, she really recognizes that she is guilty, but she does not stop there. It's now saying + never again that +", said to the press Bishop Luc Crépy, in charge of the fight against pedophilia at the CEF.
According to him, these meetings of just over an hour are "not an outcome"but"a beginning", the idea being to succeed in setting up"zero tolerance".
"Today is a historic day, we expect a lot of listening bishops, but especially actsOlivier Savignac, one of the victims, said: "The Churchdid not take the full measure"Of the plague:"She took it at 10%, no more".
Savignac told AFP that Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon who will be tried in correctional for non-denunciation of pedophilia, was part of his working group.
"We hope that today they will all have taken a step", added Véronique Garnier, another victim present in Lourdes.
At the end of these meetings, a joint press conference is scheduled for the end of the day. Subsequently, "reports from the forums, then a summary"are expected, according to Bishop Crépy.
In the morning, opening the work of the "parliament"CEF, its president Mgr Georges Pontier had said his determination to repair"the injury"the victims, before the 120 or so bishops gathered in the hemicycle Sainte-Bernadette Marian shrine.
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.
– Independent experts –
Until Thursday, the CEF parliament will also discuss the possibility of appealing to "a group of independent experts, historians and other skills"To shed light on badual abuse in the Church in the past, confirmed Bishop Pontier.This idea, in order to succeed, must however be the subject of a vote, which was not certain, according to Mr. Crepy .
The idea of a "compensation fund", especially for the prescribed facts, is also according to him"a question in debate"within the bishops."We have studied a little bit of what is being done in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland", countries that have put in place"not a compensation fund, but a financial gesture, which reflects both the recognition that the person was victim, but also (…) a gesture of solidarity"he explained.
In the meantime, an ambiguous signal was sent Thursday: Father Pierre Vignon, the priest of the Vercors who supported the victims and called in August for the resignation of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, learned that he was removed from his duties as judge at the ecclesiastical tribunal of Lyon. A decision made by a dozen bishops from the region.
And Bishop Pontier, in an interview with Provence, has distanced himself from the trial in Orleans last Tuesday of Abbé Castelet for badual abuse and former Bishop André Fort for non-denunciation. "To make an example is not the goal of justice", he said, criticizing the indictment"strict"and"hard"against Bishop André Fort.
This Saturday, several badociations also called all victims of pedophilia in the world to gather in several cities (New York, Milan, Kampala …) near their nearest cathedral.
The badembly will also address the issues of vocations, the synod of young people, or even Europe
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