In the spotlight: the Church facing its demons
Audio 04:18
In this file photo taken on September 28, 2021, the chairman of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Sexual Abuse of Minors in the Catholic Church, Jean-Marc Sauvé, poses during a photoshoot in Paris .
© AFP / JOEL SAGET
By: Frédéric Couteau Follow
4 min
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CIASE, the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church, delivers its report on Tuesday.
A 2,500-page report, the result of three years of work.
This commission was funded by the episcopate and religious congregations and institutes.
She contacted nearly 3,500 victims and conducted 250 long hearings, held public meetings across France, but also led a general population survey to measure sexual violence in all public and private institutions.
“
Abuse in the Church
: a work of truth,
” exclaims
La Croix
on the front page.
La Croix,
which announces in preview an incredible figure: 10% of French people say they have suffered sexual violence when they were minors.
Le Parisien puts
forward other figures: “
At least 150,000
children or adolescents have been abused (within the Church).
And there have been "between
2,900 and
3,200 pedophiles", men
- priests or religious
- within the Catholic Church in France since 1950. "This is a minimum estimate", warns Jean-Marc Sauvé , the president of the CIASE, and also a former vice-president of the Council of State
”.
No other figures, for the moment.
The report is unveiled this Tuesday morning.
But, warns
Le Figaro
: "
Explosion in sight for the Catholic Church in France and beyond
".
The findings of this investigation are "
overwhelming
".
Earthquake!
Liberation
, for his part, speaks of "
earthquake
": "
If the bishops of France had a little bit of respect for the other, the sense of individual as he participates in society, they would resign,
s' exclaims the newspaper.
The hierarchy of the Church has not only shown remarkable cowardice throughout the past decades, stifling all attempts to bring out the truth for fear of losing any prestige, even an ounce of power and prebend, it has also behaved in a criminal way by allowing acts condemned by the law of men to be perpetrated, acts which have shattered tens, even hundreds of thousands of lives
”.
So, continues
Liberation
, “
the reaction of the bishops of France will therefore be revealing of the state of mind of the top of the Church.
Will the silence continue or will the principle of lucidity and dignity push the Church to finally recognize its
- collective
-
responsibility in this tragedy
?
One thing is certain
: it is high time,
believes Libé,
to put an end to the priests' obligation of celibacy, which generates frustration and guilt, so many feelings capable of driving people crazy.
At the start of the 21st
century, it is not by betting on lies that the Church will keep its faithful, it is on the contrary by exploding the shackles and prohibitions of another age
”.
"Let her tremble!"
"
Comment to read in
Le Parisien
by Véronique Margron, Dominican Sister, President of the Conference of Religious of France: "
If the Church must tremble, well be it, let her tremble," she
exclaims,
and if parts of the Church were to disappear, it was because they had to collapse
!
It is not a question of hanging high and short the aggressors, but they must be made to face their responsibilities, to account.
Small, humble, innocent people have been trampled on within the Church, sometimes with the help of the institution, and nothing would be changed
?
Only the confrontation with reality is salutary, this is what Christ's message teaches us
”.
Mea culpa
Yes, the Church will have to react, add
The Latest News from Alsace
: “
These broken childhoods, these mutilated lives can no longer be repaired, but they have the right to recognition, until resentment. The Church of France must immediately admit this collective shipwreck, which is also that of a community. A necessary mea culpa, but which will not be, which will never be sufficient if it is not accompanied by concrete measures to fight against this scourge. Before being those of God, priests and religious are men subject to the laws of their countries and to the morals of their time. Impunity is no longer of this time
”.
So is the Catholic Church going to do its
mea culpa
?
Yes, assures the Archbishop of Reims and President of the Conference of Bishops of France, Mgr Eric de Moulins-Beaufort.
He is on the front page of
The Union
: "
It is time for the Church to open her eyes
", he affirms.
"
The victims must feel that we have finally understood
".
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