It is the result of the report desired by the bishops. The number of victims rises to “330,000 if the lay aggressors who work in ecclesiastical institutions” are added
From today in the Sacred Palaces of the other side of the Alps nothing will be the same as before. There have been 216,000 victims of pedophilia in the French Church from 1950 to today, according to the report of the Ciase (Commission on sexual abuse in the Church) wanted by the French bishops. Pedophile priests have been between 2,900 and 3,200 in these 70 years. And the number of victims rises to “330,000 if the lay aggressors who work in ecclesiastical institutions” are added. Crimes that have a “systemic” character, with subsequent “cruel indifference”, affirms the Ciase.
The commission that investigated the phenomenon of pedophilia in the Church in France from 1950 to 2020 proposes to “recognize the responsibility of the Church”, according to the conclusions released today. The first principle “recommended by the commission – said its president, Jean-MarcSauvé, a top French executive, former member of the Council of State and of the EU Court of Justice – consists in recognizing the responsibility of the Church in what has happened from its origins “.
According to the report, 216,000 were victims of violence or assault when they were minors by Catholic priests or religious in France between 1950 and 2020. Sauvé said about 80% are male victims. The number of victims rises to “330,000 if the lay aggressors who work in the institutions of the Catholic Church are added,” such as sacristans, teachers in Catholic schools, leaders of youth movements, Sauvé added. These figures “are much more worrying, they are chilling and in no case can they remain without consequences”. The numbers cited are the result of a statistical estimate including a margin of about 50,000 people, Sauvé said.
The “silences” and “failings” of the Catholic Church in the face of the acts of pedophile perpetrated within it since the 1950s have a “systemic” character: this is what the Commission affirms, which “has long deliberated and reached a unanimous conclusion: the Church has not been able to see, has not been able to hear, has not been able to pick up the weak signals ”, said Jean-Marc Sauvé.
The Catholic Church showed “up to the early 2000s a profound and even cruel indifference towards the victims” of pedophilia within it, Sauvé said. From 1950 to 2000, “the victims are not believed or listened to – said Sauvé – they are believed to have contributed a little to what happened to them”.
Sauvé has launched an appeal to the Church to provide financial “reparations” to all victims of sexual violence within it: “We must compensate the damages suffered by the victims even beyond the damages identified, characterized by the Church”, said Sauvé, hoping that the indemnity is not considered as a “gift” but as something “due”.
The president of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF), Monsignor Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, expresses “shame” and “fright” and asks for “forgiveness” from the victims of pedophile crime. His desire, “today, is to ask for forgiveness, forgiveness from each and every one of you,” said Moulins-Beaufort, adding that the voice of the victims “upsets us, their number devastates us. We are stunned, their voices are shaking us, their number afflicts us. I wish to ask forgiveness, forgiveness from each of you ».
The consequences “are very serious. About 60% of men and women who have been sexually abused encounter major problems in their love or sexual life. “
Meanwhile, the Vatican reports on the Vatican News website that «the French bishops have anticipated a system of financial” contributions “to be paid to the victims from 2022. But it is only in November that other responses from CEF and Corref (Conference of Religious of institutes and congregations, ed), when the two institutions will meet in plenary assembly. “I expect us to confront this burden, however obscure it may be, in order to then be able to take the necessary measures”, says Sister Véronique Margron, president of Corref ». The report will also be discussed Oltretevere, where the question “was raised by Pope Francis and some French bishops during their ad limina visits in the month of September that has just ended. “It is your cross”, said the Pope at the very last group of French bishops visiting the Vatican last Friday ».
Unlimited access to all site content
€ 1 / month for 3 months, then € 3.99 / month for 3 months
Unlock unlimited access to all content on the site
.