French Catholic church abused 330,000 children
AN estimated 330,000 children were victims of sex abuse within France’s Catholic Church over the past 70 years, according to a major report.
The figure includes abuses committed by 3,000 priests and other people involved in the church - wrongdoing that Catholic authorities covered up over decades in a “systemic manner”, according to the president of the commission that issued the report, Jean-Marc Sauve.
The head of the French bishops conference asked forgiveness from victims, and is meeting to discuss next steps.
The commission urged the church to take strong action, and called on the French state to help compensate victims, notably in cases that are too old to prosecute through the courts.
About 80% of the victims were boys.
“The consequences are very serious,” Mr Sauve said. “About 60% of men and women who were sexually abused encounter major problems in their sentimental or sexual life.”
The 2,500-page document, prepared by an independent commission, was welcomed by victims, who said it was ‘long overdue’.
Olivier Savignac, head of victims’ association Parler et Revivre, who contributed to the investigation, condemned the church for treating such cases as individual anomalies as opposed to a collective horror. Mr Sauve denounced the church’s attitude until the beginning of the 2000s as “a deep, cruel indifference toward victims”.
The president of the Conference of Bishops of France, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, said “we are appalled” at the conclusions of the report.
“I wish on that day to ask for pardon, pardon to each of you,” he told the victims.