FRANCE
RFI
The Catholic Church in France on Tuesday pledged to shed light on all cases of paedophilia, including “historic cases”, following a scandal over an archbishop accused of covering up a priest’s crimes. Bishops decided that special groups would be set up to listen to complaints from victims of sexual abuse and an “independent national commission” would be set up to investigate, led by a lay person.
“Individual cases remain in our dioceses, even historic cases, and we need to shed light on them,” said Archbishop Georges Pontier, president of the French bishops conference.
New ‘listening cells’
“We pledge to do this work just as we treat cases brought to our attention, particularly by victims,” he said.
So-called “listening cells” will be set up in every diocese to hear complaints from victims, Pontier added.
The measures were announced after the case of Archbishop of Lyon Philippe Barbarin re-opened the debate about paedophilia in the Church in France.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.