France: after the Sauvé report, Jean Castex meets Pope Francis
French Prime Minister Jean Castex in Saint-Ouen, north of Paris, October 14, 2021. AFP - SARAH MEYSSONNIER
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Three years after President Emmanuel Macron, it is his Prime Minister Jean Castex who is going to the Vatican on Monday, October 18.
There he will celebrate the 100 years of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between France and the Vatican, which had broken off at the time of the law of separation of Church and State in 1905, and will meet Pope Francis for a private audience.
Chance of the calendar, this visit comes two weeks after the revelations of the Sauvé report on the extent of child crime within the Church of France, which revealed 216,000 child victims since 1950. The head of the French government wants to put the pressure on on the Church to act.
Advertising
Read more
With our special
correspondent in Rome,
Anthony Lattier
Pope Francis expressed his “
shame
” when the report came out.
The French Prime Minister is now awaiting action from the Church so that these crimes are not repeated.
Before admiring the Sistine Chapel, Jean Castex will therefore tell the Pope that he "
will closely follow what the French bishops are going to propose
".
For Matignon, it is up to them to say, among other things, how "
they want to balance the issue of the secrecy of confession and the denunciation of a crime
".
►
To listen: Decryption: Pedocriminality in the Church of France: what victims expect
Strong expectation from Paris
The expectations of the government on this point are strong after the indignation aroused by the remarks of the president of the Conference of the bishops of France Eric de Moulins-Beaufort.
He had estimated that the secrecy of the confession was "
stronger than the laws of the Republic
" before being summoned to the Ministry of the Interior and conceding a "
clumsy formulation
".
The government insists on "
the urgent need
" for priests to alert on the facts of pedrocriminality.
►
To listen: Sexual abuse in the Church: think "After Report Saved"
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
France
Vatican