Pedocriminality in the Church: in Lourdes, the bishops of France pay tribute to the memory of the victims – archyworldys

Bishops, priests, leaders of religious orders and some faithful have “Remember” to the victims of pedocriminality, Saturday 6 November in Lourdes, by meditating in front of a photo and by organizing a prayer of repentance at the sanctuary.

“Here, together, gathered to receive the report of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church [Ciase], we want to mark this place of Lourdes for a first visual testimony that will remember so much violence, drama and aggression ”, said Hugues de Woillemont, spokesperson for the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF).

A photo of a sculpture of a crying child’s head has been unveiled. Sealed to the wall of the hemicycle in which the episcopate meets, it prefigures the construction of a “Place of memory”, decided in March by the bishops but the terms of which have not yet been defined.

The photo was taken by a victim and text on “The violence suffered” and the ” pain “ of this child was read by another victim, Véronique Garnier, who regularly participates in the work with the episcopate and, since November 2, in the plenary assembly of the CEF which is held until Monday.

A divided welcome

“Little child (…), who dragged you into his shameful secret? Who made you his thing? “, questioned Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the CEF, while Véronique Margron, who chairs the Conference of Religious of France, denounced “Forbidden speech, outside and inside” child victims.

The 120 bishops, who were not dressed in their liturgical clothes at the request of the victims, religious, priests and laity then went to the esplanade of the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire basilica, where, after the bell ringing, they participated in a penance prayer, some on their knees, asking “Forgiveness to God”.

“I lived these moments with a lot of emotion”said M^me Garnier at the end of this ceremony, stressing that it was important to “Do us justice”. On the contrary, a person presenting himself as the victim, child, of a priest belonging to the congregation of the fathers of Betharram, implanted near Lourdes, himself, shouted his ” anger “ on the esplanade.

“Repentance is a pipe”, denounced Jean-Marie Delbos, 75, claiming not to be heard by the Church. He claimed in the press that his predator, “Returned to his community, be sanctioned and defrocked”. Veronique margron came to meet him.

Friday, under the pressure of the victims and the report of Ciase, which threw a harsh light on the extent of the pedocrimels crimes within the Catholic Church for seventy years, the bishops officially recognized the “Institutional responsibility” from the church and the character “Systemic” of these crimes.