The conference of French bishops begins today in Lourdes. This meeting follows the revelations of the Sauvé report on pedocriminality in churches, published a month ago.
120 French bishops are gathered in Lourdes for a week. The plenary assembly follows the report by Jean-Marc Sauvé last month.
This report highlighted sexual abuses committed in churches. The results are damning: 216,000 underage victims of sexual assaults by clergymen since 1950, according to the report of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE).
In total, nearly 3,000 predators have acted over 70 years. The statute of limitations no longer allows some victims to file complaints. In this context, the churches are trying to deliver justice to the victims. The possibility of “financial compensation” will be considered.
76% of Catholics believe that Catholic institutions have not adequately responded to these revelations of sexual violence in the Church, as revealed by the newspaper La Croix in collaboration with Ifop.
Pedocriminality: “Sexuality within the Church is excessively taboo, this taboo prevents things from being named and fought with the required relevance and vigor. When things are not named, they cannot be fought,” warns Jean-Marc Sauvé pic.twitter.com/C18O01X0FI
— Public Sénat (@publicsenat) October 28, 2021
Some victims will be present along with the Corref (Conference of Religious Men and Women of France). However, Jean-Marc Sauvé, the author of the report and whistleblower, has not been invited to the gathering.
