French Church Seeks to Deal with Priests’ ‘weaknesses’

By Melinee Le Priol with Pierre Sautreuil
La Croix International
November 30, 2018

https://international.la-croix.com/news/french-church-seeks-to-deal-with-priests-weaknesses/8968


The French Church is studying how to accompany priests in difficulty. (Photo by Olivier Donnars/CIRIC) In a decision illustrating the French Church’s genuine concern to address the sex abuse issue, the nation's bishops have announced a program for accompanying “priests displaying signs of fragility that may become risk factors.”A grave-faced Bishop Jacques Blaquart met the press on Oct. 22, three days after the suicide of a young priest from his Diocese of Orleans.“How can we simultaneously continue to protect minors and vulnerable persons in the first place while also showing respect and concern for helping those who have engaged in inappropriate behavior?” he asked aloud.The whole French Church continues to face this tension as revelations of sexual abuse by clergy continue to mount.New cases have emerged in recent days at Strasbourg, Nancy and Nantes. Two young priests also committed suicide one month apart at Rouen and Orleans on Sept. 18 and Oct. 19.While listening to victims has already become a priority for the French Church, it is still looking for ways to accompany perpetrators, potential perpetrators or those wrongly accused of abuse.At the end of their Plenary Assembly in Lourdes on Nov. 8, the bishops also...