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In a shocking development, an independent investigation found that child sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergymen claimed 216,000 lives between 1950 and 2020. It was called a “massive phenomenon” that was hushed up by a “veil of silence”. .
The landmark report was released on Tuesday. The investigation lasted two and a half years. It was launched after widespread outrage over a spate of pedophilia complaints and lawsuits against Church officials around the world.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, because when sexual abuse by inferior members of the Church, such as teachers in Catholic schools, is included, the number of child victims of abuse over seven decades climbs to 330,000.
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“Until the beginning of the 2000s, the Catholic Church showed a deep and even cruel indifference towards the victims”, declared the president of the commission of inquiry, Jean-Marc Sauvé, during a conference Press.
He denounced the “systemic nature” of efforts to protect the clergy from allegations of pedophilia.
Meanwhile, French Catholic bishops have asked for forgiveness from victims of sexual abuse.
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Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the bishops’ conference of France, said he and his fellow bishops wanted to express to the victims their shame at the abuse revealed in the report.
The nearly 2,500-page investigation report found that the “vast majority†of victims were pre-teen boys from a wide variety of social backgrounds.
“The Catholic Church is, after the circle of family and friends, the environment with the highest prevalence of sexual violence,†the report says.
(With contributions from agencies)
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