The announcement has the effect of a small revolution within the Catholic Church. It is even a "change of culture in the Church," said Alexandre Joly, bishop of Troyes. After centuries of opacity, the France Bishops' Conference (CEF) has decided to enter the era of transparency, announcing on Wednesday, May 10, that it will soon provide deacons, priests and bishops with a digital identification card. The document, issued by the ecclesiastical authority the size of a bank card, will be able to attest that its holder is able to celebrate Mass and has the faculty to confess. In other words, the member of the Church is not charged with sexual assault.

"Just flash this QR code. We arrive on a web page and, immediately, we will have the green color that will say that this priest can celebrate, "says the bishop of Troyes Alexandre Joly, spokesman for the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF). »

— Taking Action for Our Church (@AgirNotreEglise) May 10, 2023

By flashing the QR code, the control tool will deliver several pieces of information according to a color code: a green banner if the priest has no restrictions to celebrate or confess. Orange in case of restrictions. The color orange does not necessarily mean that its holder is aggressor, warned Bishop Joly. It may also simply be a young priest, recently ordained and whose lack of experience does not yet allow him to celebrate Mass or confess. Finally, a red banner if the cardholder can neither preach nor celebrate, for fallen clergymen of the clerical state, without mentioning the nature of the sanction.

" READ ALSO Sexual abuse in the Church: with the Sauvé report, "it is a question of looking the disaster in the face"

A paper version deemed obsolete

This identity card for priests is not new. Until now, prelates have always had a "celebret", a paper document that justified their profession as priests. But the French bishops who today consider this system too easily "falsifiable (...) and complicated to update" have therefore opted for a digital version.

Each priest has a #celebret, a document that certifies that he has been validly ordained and attached to a diocese, that he can celebrate Mass and give sacraments. The equivalent of journalists' press card or lawyers' professional identity card. pic.twitter.com/p9Q0iZagzP

— Catholic Church (@Eglisecatho) May 10, 2023

This new control mechanism, decided in assembly by the bishops in 2021, is part of the publication of the report of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE). "It seemed essential to us to see what we could change (...) to make the Church safe" in terms of preventing sexual violence, said Alexandre Joly, spokesman for the CEF, at a press conference. This measure also aims at "respect" for "victims (who) cannot understand – rightly – that someone who has committed serious acts, can (...) continue to celebrate."

"A good idea in the current context"

For Christine Pedotti, director of the weekly Témoignage Chrétien, "the celebret has always been used by priests when they were on the move to prove to another priest that they were able to co-celebrate a Mass, for example," she explains. But today, it is a more modern version that opens a new feature, that of verifying that the priest has not been suspended. It's a pretty good idea in the current context that should prove quite useful."

Concretely, it is a personal identification card that gives access to the celebret via a QR code. The #celebret is then displayed with an overview of the absence or existence of restrictions related to the cardholder's department (exercise). pic.twitter.com/qiAwGp9YuT

— Catholic Church (@Eglisecatho) May 10, 2023

Failures in this area have been repeatedly denounced by victims' associations. "The phenomenon of priests who are called 'gyrowave', that is to say suspended from their functions and who continue to present themselves as priests in religious communities, is a practice regularly observed," says Christine Pedotti. The most fragrant example remains the case of the Philippe brothers. Marie-Dominique Philippe, convicted in 1957 by the Vatican for complicity in sexual abuse and her brother Thomas, were both able to found or co-found several religious communities and associations without being worried because Marie-Dominique's conviction had fallen into oblivion.

"Today we ask bishops to manage several hundred priests without really giving them the means of control," says Christine Pedotti. Yet the term episcopal, which comes from the Greek 'episcopos' means 'guardian', 'overseer'. It is therefore time for them to have the tools of their time to carry out this control function assigned to them."

"The Church has fallen very low"

In the spirit of the device, it is not a question of asking the faithful to hunt down the men of the Church by asking them for their identity document at all costs but to exercise "a means of control by another priest or a lay leader of a parish, in order to verify the legitimacy of each," continues the director of publication. Moreover, the vast majority of Catholics were previously unaware of the existence of this celebret. So there is little reason for them to demand it now."

On the side of the associations of victims of sexual abuse of the Catholic Church, the new device struggles to convince. "This is a rather exceptional measure that rises, in my opinion, in the top three of the most stupid ideas of the Catholic Church," says François Devaux, former president of La parole libérée, an association created in December 2015 in Lyon at the initiative of the victims of the scout chaplain of the diocese of Lyon, Bernard Preynat, at the origin of the resignation of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin.

"If we have to flash priests' QR codes to reassure Catholics, it is because the Church has fallen very low. This is only an announcement effect that shows above all how the bond of trust is broken between the faithful and their hierarchy, continues the former associative leader, overwhelmed by the announcement. This new ineptitude is a sign of the idleness of the Church, which has not understood the reproaches made of her or does not want to understand them. In any case, this initiative is very far from the measures recommended in the CIASE report, concludes François Devaux.

"A small means insufficient in the face of the magnitude of the phenomenon"

Among the 45 recommendations issued by the Ciase made public on October 5, 2021, there is no mention of a possible digital identity card. "I agree with François Devaux in the idea that this initiative does not respond to the requests made by the commission. This new device remains a small means that is insufficient in the face of the scale of the phenomenon," adds Christine Pedotti. In the report, it is more about giving more space to the laity, a greater sharing of power. On these questions, the Church has not provided a solution and does not answer the only question that is: why do some priests take themselves for God to the point of thinking they can dispose of the bodies of others?"

Beyond the religious aspect, the measure also raises ethical questions. The idea of mentioning a possible conviction of an individual on an identity card did not fail to react on social networks. Many Internet users have indeed seen a drift leading to a restriction of freedoms.

One device among many others, assures the Church

In the face of attacks, the Church ensures that this device is part of a broader range of measures to fight against sexual crimes "to ensure that we are in a culture of clarity and good treatment, recalled Thursday Bishop Rougé of Nanterre, on RMC. The priority of priorities remains the accompaniment of victims and the formation of priests."

🎙 "The QR code will verify that it is indeed a real priest."

Mgr Rougé, Bishop of Nanterre: fight against sexual abuse, a professional card for all religious? #ApollineMatin pic.twitter.com/yRGetfb2iU

— RMC (@RMCInfo) May 11, 2023

The France bishops' conference promises that all 18,000 priests and deacons will receive their QR codes by the end of the year. The bishops already have them. At the same time, each diocese and religious congregation will update annually the data concerning its bishops, priests and deacons. An update will be immediate if a priest is subject to a civil or canonical sanction.

The Catholic Church is still making progress because it "encourages more and more to free speech," notes the journalist. Cases of aggression still take place, but they are now reported. The situation of impunity is changing in France. The same cannot be said of Italy or Poland, for example. So much remains to be done on this issue in France and around the world."

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