Assembly of Bishops in Lourdes (Getty)

  • Pedophilia, the assembly of bishops in Lourdes: 'Duty of justice and reparation'

  • The CIASE report: "Cruel indifference of the French Church towards victims of pedophilia"

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08 November 2021The Church of France will sell its real estate to compensate victims of pedophilia.



After the requests for forgiveness and the admissions of responsibility, the bishops across the Alps pledged to increase the fund for the compensation of people who have suffered abuse "by selling real estate of the Bishops' Conference of France and the dioceses", as announced today by the president of the same head of bishops as well as archbishop of Reims, Monsignor Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, at the end of the annual assembly of the organism which was held in these days in Lourdes.



Already last Friday the bishops gathered in the famous town destination of pilgrimages from all over the world had recognized "the institutional responsibility of the Church" in the sexual assaults suffered by thousands of young victims, as well as the "systemic dimension" of these crimes. A responsibility, Moulins-Beaufort underlined on that occasion, which "implies a duty of justice and reparation".



The Sauvé Commission on Pedophilia in the French Church revealed sensational results last month, revealing the extent of pedophile violence in the Church over the past 70 years: 330,000 underage victims of priests, clerks at various levels and lay staff of the church. Moulins-Beaufort said today that, if necessary, "a loan can be taken out to anticipate the needs" of the victims. Among other things, the bishops decided to create a national body responsible for "case by case" compensation.



The instance will be chaired by a jurist, explained the high prelate, Marie Derain de Vaucresson, former defender of children, who will create her own team on the model of the independent one of the Sauvé Commission.



Derain de Vaucresson told La Croix newspaper that "financial reparation will be part of the response" to the victims "but not in a systematic way". For her, "this will really depend on each victim", as "some have expressed the simple need to know if their attacker is still alive, others to meet a person involved in their situation, the molester himself or the bishop of the epoch ".



Closing the work in Lourdes, the archbishop of Reims then announced that the bishops had asked the Pope to help them, "sending someone" of trust to "examine" the situation linked to the scandal.



Among other measures, the CEF has decided to ask for a "systematic" verification of the judicial records of each person in charge of the diocese who works in contact with minors.

The bishops also confirmed the creation of an interdiocesian canonical criminal court that will come into operation from April 2022 made up of laity and prelates.

Other measures of canon law, within the competence of the Vatican, will be transmitted to Pope Francis.

The members of the Sauvé commission, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort and the president of Corref (religious orders) Véronique Margron, have an appointment with the Pope in Rome on December 9th.