Some 300 testimonies of mistreatment among nuns.
An independent commission will be set up on December 14 to "shed light on the shortcomings" revealed by former residents of educational houses run by nuns, the congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd announced on Friday in a press release. .
After the Second World War, the State had entrusted a mission of child protection to this congregation founded in 1835 whose motherhouse is based in Angers.
The declared vocation of this congregation is “to help women whose dignity has been violated to rebuild themselves”.
Between 1950 and 1970, underage girls were placed in these establishments, commonly called reformatories, by the juvenile judge or child welfare services.
“At that time, the Ministry of Justice wanted to find a way to avoid prison or very difficult living conditions for young so-called delinquents”, specifies this press release.
In 2020, the association Les filles du Bon Pasteur was founded by former residents to denounce the mistreatment suffered in these establishments.
Humiliation, corporal punishment and free work…
A documentary film,
Bad Girls
, released in theaters on November 23, brought to light the words of five of them.
In particular, they recount the humiliations, corporal punishment and free labor experienced in these establishments.
The congregation, which says it is "attached to the right to know", called on the former rector of the academy Christian Philip to chair this commission.
He surrounded himself with former magistrates, children's judge, prefect and head of archives to carry out this work of memory which should last ten months.
The mission of this commission will be to listen to people who have suffered, to assess the societal and psychological context and the educational practices of the time, to identify the "shortcomings, deficiencies and abuses" and to assess the responsibilities of the actors concerned. .
Finally, it will have to “issue recommendations for access to the archives and possible repairs”.
According to Marie-Christine Vennat, 74, a former resident of these establishments between the ages of 15 and 18, who became secretary of the association Les filles du Bon Pasteur, 300 testimonies have already reached her.
“And it keeps happening,” she told an AFP correspondent.
“We don't blame the Catholic Church but we ask the congregation for justice,” she added.
The association is also in contact with a law firm for possible legal action.
The congregation indicates on its website to be “present in 74 countries in the world”.
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