FRENCH CATHOLIC CHURCH TO COMPENSATE THOUSANDS OF SEX ABUSE VICTIMS

Mon 08 November 2021:

The Catholic Church in France has decided to financially pay thousands of people who have been sexually molested by priests, in what the president of the country’s Bishops’ Conference has described as a “decisive step.”

In a speech on Monday, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort stated that the church has recognized its “institutional responsibility” and has resolved to move “on a path of recognition and reparation that paves the way for victims to get the possibility of mediation and compensation.”

The decision was made when the Bishops’ Conference met its annual conference, less than a month after a major investigation showed widespread child sex abuse within the French Catholic Church over the last 70 years.

Released by an independent commission, the study estimated that some 330,000 children were sexually abused over a period dating back to the 1950s by priests or other church-related figures.

It marked the latest controversy to rock the Roman Catholic Church after a series of sexual abuse scandals around the world, often involving children, over the past 20 years.

Moulins-Beaufort did not provide details about the amount of the compensation and how the church intends to pay.

The report, released last month, accused the Catholic Church of a “systemic” cover-up of abuse, accusing it of erecting a “veil of silence” over the misdeeds.

According to the report, the 330,000 victims include an estimated 216,000 victims assaulted by priests and other clergy, with the remainder abused by church officials such as scout leaders and camp counselors. The figures are based on a larger study conducted by France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research investigating child sexual abuse in the country.

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