A statue of Mary and the Christ Child is pictured inside St. Martin Church near Nantes, France. Photo: CNS An independent commission set up to measure the extent of abuse committed by Church members has estimated that over 3,000 paedophiles, out of a total of 115,000 priests, were actively engaged in ministry with the Church between 1950 to the present day.
The 2,500-page report, which was commissioned by the French Catholic Church in 2018, has been commended by Katherine Dalle who is head of communications for the Bishops’ Conference of France, as she stated that the report’s release, “is a very important moment for people who have been abused. It is an important moment for the Church in France. Jean-Marc Sauvé (commission president) has done remarkable work”.
In the lead up to the finalisation of the report, Church authorities in France distributed a message to be read at every parish in the country during Sunday Mass. It says that the publication of the report “will be a test of truth and a tough and serious moment”.
The report is the latest instalment in an assortment of measures taken by the Catholic Church in France to tackle the horrors of sexual abuse in recent years. In 2019, the Diocese of Paris signed a protocol with the city prosecutor to allow suspected abuse to be investigated without victims making a formal complaint to the authorities.
In addition to the novel protocol, the Church also voted in favour of 11 resolutions to tackle the problem of abuse, including: the establishment of a council “for the prevention and fight against paedophilia” and financial “contribution” for victims. These resolutions were ratified in March of this year.
The report’s compilation saw input from 21 contributors all from wide-ranging backgrounds with doctors, historians, sociologists and theologians among those who participated in the process.