French Catholic Church had an estimated 3,000 pedophiles over the past 70 years
October 4, 2021, 5:46 am

French Catholic Church had an estimated 3,000 pedophiles over the past 70 years

Church-image source-Pixabay

The National Post reported according to Reuters, the head of an independent commission investigating the sex abuse scandal said in an interview published on Sunday, the French Catholic Church has had an estimated 3,000 pedophiles in its ranks over the past 70 years.

The scandal in the French Church is the latest to hit the Roman Catholic Church, which has been rocked by sexual abuse scandals around the world, often involving children, over the past 20 years.

The French commission is due to publish its findings on Tuesday, marking the culmination of 2-1/2 years of work, probing allegations of abuse going back to the 1950s.

“We have estimated the number (of pedophiles) as standing at 3,000, out of 115,000 priests and religious officials, going back to the 1950s,” commission head Jean-Marc Sauve told the Journal du Dimanche paper.

A spokesperson representing the French Catholic Bishops’ Conference declined to comment on Sauve’s remarks.Read more: Plane crashes into building near Milan, killing all eight people on boardA Vatican spokesperson said it would wait for the full report to be published before deciding on whether to comment.In June, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis was a worldwide “catastrophe.”The French Catholic Church posted a prayer on its official Twitter account on Sunday, on behalf of victims, and added it would also hold a prayer on Oct. 5 — the day of the publication of the report.

“Dear Lord — we entrust to you all those who have been victims of violence and sexual attacks in the Church. We pray that we will always be able to count on your support and help during these ordeals,” it wrote on its Twitter account.

STEPS TO WIPE OUT ABUSE

Since his election in 2013, Francis has taken a series of steps aimed at wiping out sexual abuse of minors by clerics.

In 2019, the pope issued a landmark decree making bishops directly accountable for sexual abuse or covering it up, requiring clerics to report any cases to Church superiors and allowing anyone to complain directly to the Vatican if needed.

This year, he issued the most extensive revision to Catholic Church law in four decades, insisting that bishops take action against clerics who abuse minors and vulnerable adults. Critics have said he has not done enough.

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The French Church, which has seen dwindling numbers of faithful in recent years, said in March it would propose financial compensation to those who were victims of abuse.

Last month, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne decided to take a “spiritual time-out” from his duties after committing grave errors in a crisis over clerical sexual abuse.

A report published last year in Britain said the Catholic Church received more than 900 complaints involving over 3,000 instances of child sex abuse in England and Wales between 1970 and 2015, and that there have been more than 100 reported allegations a year since 2016.

Source: nationalpost

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.