Pedophilia in the Church: Decades of sexual abuse highlighted in damning report

Storm warning on the bell towers of France. This Tuesday, October 5 will be published the report of the Independent Commission on sexual abuse in the Church (Ciase), after two and a half years of an objective and mathematical investigation. “Quite frightening figures” are announced in La Croix by Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, archbishop of Reims and president of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) On November 7, 2018, the CEF, in assembly in Lourdes, decided “ the establishment of an independent commission responsible for shedding light on the sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church since 1950, to to understand the reasons which favored the way in which these cases were handled and to make recommendations, in particular by evaluating the measures taken since the 2000s “. Jean-Marc Sauvé, honorary vice-president of the Council of State, agreed a few days later to constitute this commission.

Carte blanche for Ciase

The Archbishop of Montpellier, Mgr Pierre-Marie Carré, vice-president of the CEF from 2013 to 2019, played a decisive role in the creation of the Ciase: “An outside eye was essential to look, with the more clarity possible, the truth in the face. The international momentum maintained by Pope Francis has also stimulated. “ The Ciase is thus made up of 12 men and 10 women, legitimate in their respective fields of competence: law, psychiatry and psychoanalysis, medicine, education, sociology or theology. Some are believers – of different faiths – others are agnostics or atheists. They had carte blanche to call to testify, to search the archives of dioceses and religious institutions, to collect hundreds of reports from victims throughout France, in complete independence and confidentiality.

Impatience and apprehension

Released this Tuesday (1), the work of Ciase and its recommendations are therefore awaited with both impatience and apprehension. They will place the Church of France at a crossroads: on the one hand, the choice of a profound reform of the institution, of its training courses, a real reception of victims; on the other, a simple communication operation, or even the observation of an inability to change. Pope Francis chose his side, which is waging a fierce war against clericalism. To Christian communities and their pastors to take up the issue now.