Pedocriminality: the Church of France undertakes to compensate victims with the sale of goods

The bishops of France announced that to compensate victims of sexual abuse, real and personal property will be sold.

Here, a cross at the Sainte-Reparate Cathedral, in Nice, on October 10, 2021. © REUTERS - ERIC GAILLARD

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

A month after the delivery of the Sauvé report of the Independent Commission on sexual assault in the Church of France (Ciase), the Conference of Bishops announced Monday, November 8 the action plan of the Catholic Church for the compensation of 216,000 victims since 1950, or even 330,000 if we count the attacks by lay people working in the institution.

The compensation fund will be supplemented by the sale of movable and immovable property.

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Four measures will take effect immediately, starting with the establishment of an independent national body for recognition and redress.

It will be chaired by a lawyer, and will be responsible for investigating

victims' claims

Then comes the issue of compensation and their funding,

eagerly awaited by associations

.

Here too, the Bishops' Conference follows the

recommendations of the Ciase

.

The compensation fund, opened in September, will be supplemented by the sale of real estate of bishops and dioceses.

There is therefore no question of digging into the contributions of the faithful.

And if necessary, the Church will take out a loan.

Another measure, the creation of working groups to reflect on the application of the other recommendations of the Ciase.

They will be piloted by lay people and victims if they accept it.

The president of the Bishops' Conference recognizes the importance of accepting society's view of a Church that has too long run affairs internally.

Each bishop will also work with the prosecutor of his territory to set up a

protocol to deal with reports

.

Finally, the Conference of Bishops appealed for the help of the Pope and asked for a team of visitors to be sent to assess this mission.

For François Devaux, one of the figures of the liberation of the word of the victims of religious, the announced measures will never be enough to bring about the necessary deep reform.

For François Devaux, one of the figures of the liberation of the word of the victims of religious, the announced plan is not enough to provoke the deep internal reform necessary to avoid these crimes.

Marie Casadebaig

For the theologian Anne Soupa, who called for the resignation of all the bishops after this scandal, this plan is an important step, but shortcomings persist.

We have the feeling that there is a listening, that they came back to Earth, that they understood the damage they caused. All of this is very positive, but there are two points which seem to me not addressed. First, the issue of vulnerable adults, because most of the time it has been a question of minor victims in the proposals made. I fear that this question will tarnish tomorrow the praise that can be given to these proposals. The other is the lack of recognition of the problem of women. For me, that is extremely clear: we do not seem to take very clearly into account that diversity in the bodies, both pastoral and decision-making, was a condition for suppressing abuse. It is a fact of sociology: when you are in a system where males decide,they tend to exert all their power without restraint.

For the theologian Anne Soupa, gaps persist in the plan of the Church

Marie Casadebaig

To read also: For Guy Ossito Midiohouan, "the practices revealed by the Sauvé report also exist in Africa"

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