Louise Sallé 07h40, December 08, 2022

Revealed by various cases within dioceses, the extent of sexual violence committed within the institution has upset many Catholics.

24 religious, priests and lay people invested in their parish, enrolled in a brand new university degree, taught at the Catholic Institute of Paris, to try to better understand and prevent situations of abuse.

After the revelations of sexual violence within the institution, the Church of France has set up, since the start of the school year, training for Catholics to help them fight against abuses committed in their parishes. 

Priests, lay people, monks and nuns therefore take courses two days a month at the Catholic Institute of Paris (ICP) with a view to obtaining a university degree.

The sessions combine different subjects such as law, psychology, theology and listening to victims.

Twenty-four people only make up this first promotion, for which the places filled up very quickly.

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Study power relations 

"Hello everyone, today we are going to talk about the qualities expected of spiritual accompaniment so that it is beneficial", begins Gilles Berceville, teacher of theology.

He gives this course with the psychologist Jacques Arênes.

"The question is to see how support relationships can become relationships of excessive power", adds the latter.

It is here, in fact, that situations of sexual violence can begin.

This psychological aspect of training is precisely what attracted Monsignor Alain de Raemy.

He is an auxiliary bishop in Switzerland, and travels expressly from Geneva every month.

"I thought it was a great opportunity since we also had a lot of abuse at home, very publicized," he says.

"You have to learn how to handle these situations."

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"I want to scream"

This awareness of the Church does not prevent Ange-Marie, a Benedictine nun, from expressing her anger.

"I want to scream," she says indignantly.

“We act as if nothing had happened, and it makes my hair stand on end, at mass…”, confides the young nun.

"In monastic communities, there is a lot of abuse of power with abbots or abbesses who are forced to resign," she says.

“The person who denounces the problems is often forced to stop monastic life”, continues Ange-Marie. “So she finds herself outside, without money or social security, in great precariousness.

I can not stand it anymore."

If this university degree costs at least 700 euros per year, it can still be reimbursed by the diocese.