France: Catholic Church will compensate 45 people abused as children

It is estimated that the victims of pederasty in the French Church could be 10,000.

Those affected by sexual abuse will receive compensation of up to 60,000 euros maximum.

Forty-five people in France who were sexually abused in church as minors have received or will soon receive financial compensationannounced on Friday the president of the National Independent Recognition and Reparation Instance (Inirr).

Until the end of September, of the 1,004 requests for compensation registered in the Inirr so far this year, “60 decisions were adopted, 45 of them in the financial field” declared the president of the organization, Marie Derain de Vaucresson, in a conference press.

(Also read: Spanish Church counts more than 500 cases of sexual abuse of minors)

The Inirr, created by the episcopate in November 2021, compensates victims of priests or lay people within dioceses or Catholic youth movements.

The demand, when it includes a financial part, is evaluated based on “three severity scales” and can reach a maximum of 60,000 euros.

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“Of a sample of 38 decisions, nine have received the amount of 60,000 euros, 21 amounts between 15,000 and 30,000 euros and eight an amount less than 15,000 euros,” Derain de Vaucresson specified.

AFP