ROME (ITALY)
Crux
November 8, 2018
By Claire Giangravè
After months of discussions and reflections, the French Bishops’ Conference decided to create an independent and external commission to address sexual abuse within the Church, its cover-up and the conference’s handling of the issue since the 2000s.
“The bishops of France decided to set up an independent commission to throw light on the sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church since 1950 to understand the reasons that favored the way in which these cases were handled and to make recommendations,” said Archbishop Georges Pontier of Marseille, President of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) on Nov. 7.
Pontier’s statement came at the conclusion of the bishop’s plenary assembly in Lourdes, which approved on Nov. 7 the creation of the commission and admitted to awarding a financial gesture to the victims. During the summit, the French bishops met with clerical sex abuse victims.
“This meeting between the victims and the bishops has confirmed for us all, victims and bishops, the need to work together better in this fight,” Pontier said.
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