This is the moment in which an independent committee gave the President of the French Bishops' Conference the report he had requested on cases of abuse in the country.
The document reveals that since 1950, of the 115,000 priests and men religious present in France, between 2,900 and 3,200 abused about 216,000 minors.
These numbers reporting on 70 years would rise to 330,000 victims if they were to include lay people who worked in Church institutions.
ABP. ROLAND MINNERATH
Archbishop of Dijon (France)
“All Catholics are shocked because it's an extremely high number of cases.”
ABP. JEAN-LUC BOUILLERET
Archbishop of Besançon
“We will do what we can for the future, but we have to bring to light this past of the Church.”
The report also states that until the year 2000, the Church demonstrated “cruel indifference” toward victims.
That's why Abp. Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, President of the French Bishops' Conference, asked the victims for forgiveness, saying that he felt ashamed and would take measures to respond to these abuse cases.
It's a reaction shared by all the bishops, who have asked for time to process the tragedy.
ABP. ROLAND MINNERATH
Archbishop of Dijon (France)
“First, we have to say that we are thinking about the victims. We have no explanation to say that these things happen. But we can quickly put these incidents into perspective.”
The bishops shared some details from the report with the Pope during their recent ad limina meeting. The report includes 45 proposals for the Church to recognize victims' suffering and to facilitate reporting incidents of abuse.
Although the legal system is addressing the abuses, the bishops are also looking for justice for those affected.
BSB/JMB
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