The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church has published the 2,500-page investigation document about the findings of decades of abuse in the French Catholic Church on Tuesday.
216,000 victims under the age of 18 have been sexually abused by priests and other clerics in the French Catholic Church since 1950, an investigation has found.
The report states an estimated 330,000 children were victims of sex abuse when non-religious people involved in the church were taken into account.
The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church, known by its French acronym Ciase, has taken two and a half years of investigations to complete the study, which resulted from a decision taken by French bishops in November 2018.
The independent commission that compiled the report was set up by Catholic bishops in France at the end of 2018.
“These figures are more than worrying, they are damning and in no way can remain without a response,” the president of the investigative committee, Jean-Marc Sauve, said at a press conference.
“Until the early 2000s the Catholic Church showed a profound and even cruel indifference towards the victims,” he said.
“You are a shame to our humanity. You have trampled on the obligation of protection of life and human dignity, even though it is the essence of your profession,” said François Devaux, head of the victim group La Parole Liberée (The Liberated Word) in response to the findings.
“You must pay for all these crimes,” he added, addressing church figures in the audience at the public presentation of the report in Paris.
Jean-Marc Sauvé, chairman of the independent commission that compiled the report, explained during the press conference that the majority of victims, around 80 percent, were boys.
“A large number of the victims were aged 10 to 13 years old. Even 11 to 12 years old. These were boys. It’s a clear characteristic of the Catholic church,” said Sauvé, adding that “these numbers are more than preoccupying, they are overwhelming, and in no case can they be left without proper action.”
The Catholic Church, in multiple European countries and the U.S., has been shaken by a flood of allegations that members of the clergy have carried out wide-ranging abuse against minors for years.
(With inputs from agencies)
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
