THOUSANDS OF PAEDOPHILES ACTIVE IN FRENCH CATHOLIC CHURCH SINCE 1950, REPORT

Sun 03 October 2021:

Thousands of paedophiles have operated inside the French Catholic Church since 1950, according to the head of an independent panel examining the scandal, who spoke to AFP only days before the report’s release.

According to Jean-Marc Sauve, the commission’s research discovered between 2,900 and 3,200 paedophile priests or other members of the church, which he described as “a minimal estimate.”

After two and a half years of investigation based on church, judicial, and police records, as well as interviews with witnesses, the commission’s report is set to be released on Tuesday.

The 2,500-page report will seek to quantify both the number of offenders and the number of victims, according to Sauve.

It will also investigate “the mechanisms, notably institutional and cultural ones” within the Church that permitted paedophiles to remain and provide 45 recommendations.

The French Catholic Church established the independent commission in 2018 in response to a series of crises that rocked the Church in France and around the world.

It was also formed after Pope Francis signed legislation requiring people who have knowledge of sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiors.

Its mandate was to investigate complaints of child sex abuse by clergy dating back to the 1950s. It was made up of 22 legal professionals, doctors, historians, sociologists, and theologians.

In November 2018, the Bishops’ Conference of France had agreed to set up the independent commission following massive and recurring child abuse scandals. The decision attracted mixed reactions from the victims’ associations some of which praised the attempt to encourage the survivors to speak out while others doubted the willingness and ability of French prosecutors to press charges. The 20 members of the commission come from different walks of life including legal, academic and medical backgrounds.

(with agency) FILE PHOTO

_____________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent