Pedocriminality within the Church: “I am ashamed”, says Pope Francis

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After expressing Tuesday of his “immense sorrow”, the sovereign pontiff expressed Wednesday “his shame”, following the publication of a damning report on child crime within the Church of France. Unveiled by an independent commission, the conclusions of the investigation estimate at 216,000 the number of minors sexually assaulted by clerics or religious in France since 1950.

Pope Francis expressed, Wednesday, October 6, “his shame”, insisting on this word, after the publication of a damning report on child crime within the Church of France. “I wish to express to the victims my sadness, my pain for the trauma suffered, and also my shame, our shame, my shame for the Church’s too long inability to put them at the center of its concerns”, he said. said during the general audience. “I pray, and let us all pray together, to you Lord the glory, to us shame. It is the moment of shame”, insisted the Argentine Pope.

An independent commission, which investigated the extent of child crime in the Catholic Church of France, released its damning findings on Tuesday, estimating at 216,000 the number of children and adolescents victims of clerics and religious since 1950 .

If we add the people attacked by lay people working in Church institutions (teachers, supervisors, youth movement executives …), the number climbs to 330,000, indicated its president, Jean-Marc Sauvé. , by revealing the findings of the Independent Commission on Abuse in the Church (Ciase).

French Catholics must “assume their responsibilities”

The Pope called on religious leaders “to continue all their efforts so that such tragedies do not happen again”. Referring to “a hard but salutary trial”, he called “French Catholics to assume their responsibilities so that the Church is a safe home for all”.

As early as Tuesday, the Vatican spokesperson reacted to this information, evoking the “immense sorrow” of the Pope: “His thoughts turn first and foremost to the victims, with immense sorrow for their wounds and gratitude for their courage to They are also turning to the Church of France, so that, having become aware of this appalling reality (…) she can undertake the path of redemption, “said Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni, evoking in front of journalists the reaction of the Pope.

With AFP

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