BishopAccountability.org
 
 

More Abuse Cases Come to Light in France

By Celine Hoyeau and Gauthier Vaillant
La Croix
February 16, 2017

https://international.la-croix.com/news/hidden-abuse-cases-emerge-into-the-light/4692

As part of the French Church’s transparency campaign, the Diocese of Angers has revealed the allegations of two victims of Fr Hyacinthe-Marie Houard, a charismatic, well-known local priest, who died in 2012.

Bishop Emmanuel Delmas of Angers / Josselin Clair/Le Courrier de l'Ouest

Catholics from Angers in western France are devastated this week following the publication on Tuesday evening of a letter from Bishop Emmanuel Delmas to local priests.The bishop states that he had received testimonies from two young adult women revealing “that they had been subject during their childhood to inappropriate behavior by a former chaplain, Fr Houard".Hyacinthe-Marie Houard, who died in December 2012 at the age of 85, was an eminent personality in the diocese. Chaplain and founder of a local Scouts of Europe team, he enjoyed an excellent reputation as an educator and became secretary-general of the Catholic University of Angers. In 1983, he helped found the university’s Institute of Public Relations and Communication (IRCOM).The two young women who complained to the bishop say that they were sexually abused at the beginning of the years 2000. Each woman made direct contact with the bishop, one during spring 2016 and the other at the end of the year.“These are serious and profoundly destructive acts,” the bishop wrote, praising the girls’ courage.“The fact that these young people were able to speak about it and confide what happened forms part of an essential process of rebuilding,” he continued.Noting that there was no possibility of launching legal action since the priest was dead, Bishop Delmas said he was ready to meet with any other potential victim.Born in 1927, Fr Houard was ordained as a priest in Saint Brieux in 1951. From 1955 to 1963, he taught at the Saint Charles College in Saint-Brieux, where he appears to have left positive memories.“He was a remarkable teacher,” says Fr Yves Le Gueut, who worked with him for five years. Even today, the Diocese of Angers says that nothing in his profile suggested such reprehensible behavior.“Since he was in contact with young people for a great part of his life, we cannot exclude the possibility that there were other victims,” explained Christophe Lefebvre, diocesan communications officer, who spoke on behalf of Bishop Delmas.“This is why we have launched this public process,” he added.The eminence and the reputation of Fr Houard have added to the shock felt in Angers. Honored by the regional government for services rendered in Maine-et-Loire, he also received the Legion of Honor in 2005. A strong character, he was greatly appreciated by many families in Angers, despite his reputation as a lone ranger.“I hardly knew him,” recalls Bishop Jean Orchampt, who was bishop of Angers from 1974 to 2000, and who did not appreciate his “conservatism".“Fr Houard had his court, those he liked, those who he did not like and it was good to be viewed positively by him,” remembers a former guide.Parents readily left their children in his care on weekends, and he took them on holiday in his house at the coastal town of Perros-Guirec.“There were certain rumors that circulated but since he was accused of all sorts of things, we thought them to be defamation,” says one mother.Interviewed by La Croix, several former Scouts and leaders recall a certain uneasiness at the time with his overbearing affection.“When I went to see him, I saw girl scouts on his knees and that disturbed me,” says one former scout.“When a girl scout was sick, he invited her to sleep in his tent, where he had a second camp bed,” says another.Pierre Collignon, director of IRCOM, which hosts some 350 students each year, says that the news has left him feeling “very wounded".“We think of those who are suffering,” he says, indicating his satisfaction that the events have been made public.“It will help the victims to understand that we believe them and it will eventually perhaps enable other victims to come forward,” he concluded. Events raise questions about the functioning of our institutionsSister Veronique Margron, president of the Conference of French Religious (CORREF).“The question that this raises in my mind is how our institutions allowed themselves to be blinded by their own fascination with success and were themselves fascinated to the point of being blinded.“How can we allow such an aura to grow around such a man and indeed many others? We need to question our relationship with the sacred, which makes it nearly impossible to take a healthy distance and to raise the necessary questions.“Vatican II has introduced new ways of governing more collegially. Are there adequate counterbalances in place to limit the possibility of such actions? These events need to continue to cause us to question our institutions.”

 

 

 

 

 




.

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.