Gathered in a collective, the victims of Father Louis Ribes have strongly criticized the Church which is slow, according to them, to compensate them.
"She has the means to pay and she must pay", they annoy, denouncing "shortcomings" despite "the words".
In Lyon, Grenoble and Saint-Etienne, 49 victims of the former priest [who died in 1994] have come forward since the revelation of the case last January.
“In my body, the little girl is always there”.
For nearly 60 years, "Nanou" has remained silent, keeping quiet about the "hundreds of rapes" she suffered as a child, from age 7 to age 12.
An indelible suffering, engraved for eternity in his chair.
This 66-year-old mother is one of the alleged victims of Father Louis Ribes, priest of the diocese of Lyon who died in 1994.
There will never be a trial, “which is very frustrating”.
But the hardest thing is "the broken promises" of the Church, she says.
“Nothing has been done”, denounce the victims who have just united in a collective.
Together, they decided to speak publicly to denounce the “failures” of the Church and “to compel it to act up to its commitments”.
“Is she waiting for people to commit suicide to make amends?
immediately attacks Luc Gemet, 58, one of the group's spokespersons.
The dioceses of Lyon, Grenoble and Saint-Etienne, which jointly revealed the affair in January by calling on the victims to come forward, have promised to compensate them.
They also assured that all the works of the man who was nicknamed "The Picasso of the churches" would be dismantled and stored, that the books devoted to the paintings or photos of the artist would be withdrawn from sales.
Books still on sale
Only, "there are words and deeds," sighs Annick Moulin, 53.
From 8 to 12 years old, the little girl posed naked "dozens of times" for Father Ribes who indulged in forbidden gestures during the sessions.
Without counting those which took place under the table, when the priest, "a friend of the family", came to dine with his parents.
A “month and a half” ago, Annick discovered that the art books in question were still present on the shelves of Lyon bookstores.
"It's extremely shocking," she says.
But what hurt me the most was seeing my parents' name mentioned at the end, in the list of acknowledgments.
In the 1980s, Ribes had sold them a painting, for the price of 300 francs, which was shown in this book.
“A proof, according to her, that “things have hardly advanced”.
“Have the paintings really been put away?
Behind some of them, there are children's first names.
What is the procedure for deregistering works as historical monuments?
», continues Annick Moulin.
Questions shared by Luc Gemet, 58 years old.
From the age of 8 until the age of 15, he suffered "rape and touching" in cascade.
As a kid, he also posed naked, many times, for the priest who photographed him, drawing him from every angle, in "sometimes child pornography positions".
“Where have these millions of drawings gone?
And all the pictures taken of us?
Have they fallen into pedophile networks?
Have they been sold?
he asks himself.
The diocese of Grenoble indicated that everything had been destroyed by a third party, after the death of the man.
But how can you be sure?
The answers given are hardly convincing.
No more than the compensation procedure, the procedures for which are particularly complex.
750,000 euros provided by the diocese of Lyon for the victims
Nanou, who was received by the repair commission, was offered “a monthly allowance”.
But when she mentioned that she wanted to consult with her lawyer about it, the dialogue was cut short.
“In summary, I was told that if he put his nose in the procedure, I would not have compensation.
It's just blackmail," she says.
"After the Preynat affair and the actions carried out by the Word Liberated, after the CIASE, we thought that the Church would have had a click, that things would be simpler, but obviously this is not the case, accuses Annick.
We get the impression that they are basically hoping that very few victims will seek compensation.
»
The diocese of Lyon has announced that it will contribute up to 750,000 euros to compensate the victims.
A “provocation” for the collective.
The group has commissioned an expert to assess the property of the diocese which, according to him, amounts to between 172 and 200 million euros.
Much more than the 60 million mentioned by the archdiocese.
“Contrary to what they claim, the Church has the means to pay.
And she has to pay!
The problem is that I feel like I'm begging for my reparation and it continues to self-destruct me,” says Annick.
"As if it had to cost as little money as possible!"
Once again, we are the forgotten ones.
The Church has obviously drawn no experience from past cases,” accuses Luc Gemet in turn.
The collective has issued ten demands, including the “unlimited” coverage by the Church of all care, the recognition of the “systemic nature” of these crimes or even “the imprescriptibility of crimes against minors”.
"What happened to us must be used for something to prevent it from happening again," he concludes.
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child crime
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Priest
Victim
Lyons
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes