Sexual abuse in the Church in France: eleven bishops or former bishops implicated

Eleven bishops or former bishops have been implicated in cases of sexual abuse, including Mgr Ricard, former bishop of Bordeaux, and Mgr Santier, former bishop of Créteil.

AFP - ERIC CABANIS

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Eleven bishops or former bishops are implicated in the case of sexual abuse which is shaking the Church of France.

The announcement was made on Monday, November 7 by the president of the Conference of Bishops of France, during their plenary assembly which is being held in Lourdes until Tuesday.  

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Transparency and better communication, it is in this context that the number of cases has been publicly revealed.

Because the Church has been strongly criticized by the faithful who want light to be shed on the cases of sexual abuse of which bishops are accused.

►Also read: Sexual abuse in the Church: meeting in assembly in Lourdes, the French episcopate under pressure

Among the accused, there is Mgr Santier, former bishop of Créteil.

He was sanctioned in 2021 by the Vatican authorities for "spiritual abuse having led to voyeurism on two adult men", sanction revealed in mid-October by the press.

It was following this new affair that the faithful stepped up to demand more transparency.

More transparency

Faced with parishioners very upset against the episcopate and who make it known, the Church had to promise more transparency in the way in which cases of accusation of sexual abuse are handled.

We now know that the ten prelates concerned (one died in 2018) will have to answer before civil justice or the justice of the Church for acts of sexual violence.

The other personality cited is Mgr Ricard, former bishop of Bordeaux.

” conduct 

 on a 14-year-old minor 35 years ago;

conduct for which he sends a message asking forgiveness to all the victims.

Another man of the Church is currently the subject of a report to the prosecutor, and measures to restrict his ministry are already taken by the Holy See in Rome.

These new revelations come just over a year after the publication of the Sauvé Commission's shocking report on the extent of pedocrime in the Church of France since 1950. “There are many things hidden.

How many more will come out?

“Questioned Olivier Savignac, for the group of victims Parler et revivre.

He said he was "shaken by the revelations" and lamented that "the Church only reacts once at the foot of the wall".

► To read also: Report of the Sauvé Commission: the Church of France between shame and amazement

In France, it is estimated that 330,000 minors have been victims of priests, religious or people linked to the Church since 1950.

(and with AFP)

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