the Conference of Bishops of France rejects announcements on support for adult victims

Three years after the report of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church, the question of supporting adults who are victims of sexual violence within the Church was examined Thursday and Friday by the bishops with a view to possible announcements. Sunday.

“If the principle is acquired, we see that we still have work to do before deciding on the implementation methods”explained Sunday, November 10, Monseigneur Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF), during his closing speech at the Plenary Assembly of the Bishops of France in Lourdes; in the Hautes-Pyrénées.

Three years after the report of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (Ciase), the question of supporting adults who are victims of sexual violence in the Church was examined Thursday and Friday by the bishops with a view to possible announcements on Sunday. They are finally sent back in the spring. The Conference of Bishops opted for “a milestone at the end of March, beginning of April during a fairly large gathering” in Lourdes, specified Monsignor Éric de Moulins-Beaufort.

“I sense that victims are disappointed and hurt by this delay. I assure them of our determination to move forwardcontinued the president of the Conference of Bishops of France. We want to do well. Two paths were presented, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Both raising many questions.he justified without giving further details.

The bishops plan to set up a national body to support and possibly decide on financial reparations for adult victims, based on the model of the Independent National Body for Recognition and Reparation (INIRR) for minor victims, franceinfo has learned from a source close to the case. A second option was therefore debated. The bishops do not rule out relying on experts in a more territorialized way, in the ecclesiastical provinces. “The five months which separate us from the March assembly will allow us to clarify the points which remain uncertain in the two paths which we have explored”, declared Msg Éric de Moulins-Beaufort in his speech.

The president of the CEF also affirmed that the bishops meeting in Lourdes wished “open a solid and lasting path to recognition and reparation”that the victims “are respected and supported” et “that the priests involved assume their responsibilities”. Thus, he added in his speech, “it seems clear to us that the first path must be that of republican justice, if possible” et “that of canonical justice must also be borrowed, if it can be opened.”

Monsignor Éric de Moulins-Beaufort specifies that reflection is underway on restorative justice “when the situations cannot fall into one nor the other because the author is dead or because the facts are prescribed” more “we know that it is not exempt from criticism from victims” et “we must be sure of the competence and ability of the people to whom we could entrust this mission to do it in a clear and reassuring manner for the victims.”