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French clergy sexually abused over 200,000 children since 1950, probe finds
Catholic Church showed 'deep, total and even cruel indifference for years,'
says commission head
Thomson Reuters ·
Posted: Oct 05, 2021 8:13 AM ET | Last Updated: 9 hours ago
French clergy have sexually abused more than 200,000 children over the past 70 years, a major investigation released on Tuesday found, and its authors accused the Catholic Church of turning a blind eye for too long.
The church had shown "deep, total and even cruel indifference for years," protecting itself rather than the victims of what was systemic abuse, said Jean-Marc Sauvé, head of the commission that compiled the report.
Most of the victims were boys, he said, many of them aged between 10 and 13.
"Faced with this scourge, for a very long time the Catholic Church's immediate reaction was to protect itself as an institution and it has shown complete, even cruel, indifference to those having suffered abuse," the report said.
And there are stories on this blog every week revealing that little has changed.
Commission president Jean-Marc Sauvé speaks Tuesday in Paris during the publishing of a report into sexual abuse by church officials. (Thomas Coex/The Associated Press)
Latest scandal
The revelations, which showed the problem in France was more widespread than previously thought, were the latest to rock the Roman Catholic Church, after a series of sexual abuse scandals around the world, often involving children.
Pope Francis expressed gratitude toward victims for having the courage to come forward.
"First of all his thoughts go to the victims, with great sorrow, for their wounds," a Vatican statement said.
"[His thoughts go to] the Church of France, so that, in the awareness of this terrible reality … it may embark on a path of redemption."
Now, that would be different!
The head of the French conference of bishops, Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, said the church was shamed. He asked for forgiveness and promised to act.
Promises are made daily, but are fulfilled on a much longer scale. Asking for forgiveness belies the fact that you have no idea how much damage has been done to the children. This will become painfully obvious when you stand before the Lord in Judgement.
The revelations in France are the latest to rock the Roman Catholic Church, after a series of sexual abuse scandals around the world, often involving children.
The commission was established by Catholic bishops in France at the end of 2018 to shed light on abuses and restore public confidence in the church at a time of dwindling congregations. It has worked independently from the church.
Sauvé said the problem was still there. He added that the church had, until the 2000s, shown complete indifference to victims and that it only started to really change its attitude in 2015-2016.
Pope Francis, shown speaking at Monday's 'Faith and Science: Towards COP26' meeting at the Vatican, has called the Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis a worldwide 'catastrophe.' (Alessandro Di Meo/Reuters)
Church urged to reform
The Catholic Church's teaching on subjects such as sexuality, obedience and the sanctity of the priesthood helped create blind spots that allowed sexual abuse by clergy to happen, Sauvé said, noting that the church needed to reform the way it approached those issues to rebuild trust with society.
What does it have to do to rebuild the trust of God? The church seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that they have sinned horrendously against God.
The church must take responsibility for what happened, the commission said, and ensure reports of abuse are transmitted to judicial authorities.
It must also provide victims with adequate financial compensation, "which, despite not being sufficient [to address the trauma from sexual abuse], is nonetheless indispensable as it completes the recognition process."
Why is it not sufficient to address the trauma from sexual abuse? Is it because no amount of money is enough to overcome the astonishing evil of a priest raping a little boy?
The height of the abuse took place between 1950 and 1970, the commission said in its report, with an apparent resurgence in cases in the early 1990s.
Many cases are covered by the statute of limitations, but state prosecutors have been alerted to more recent cases and the commission stressed that the church should provide compensation no matter when an offence was committed.
It added a list of recommendations that included systematically checking the criminal record of any person assigned by the church to be in regular contact with children or vulnerable people, and providing priests with adequate training.
Sauvé said the commission itself had identified around 2,700 victims through a call for testimony, and thousands more had been found in archives.
But a wide-ranging study by research and polling groups estimated that there had been around 216,000 victims, and the number could rise to 330,000 when including abuse by lay members.
Sauvé said the scale was unprecedented, with most other investigations of the Catholic Church's sexual abuses focusing on victims identified individually.
There have been around 2,900-3,200 suspected pedophiles (3rd story on link) in the French church over the last 70 years, he said.
'Disgrace to our humanity'
François Devaux, a victim of church abuse and founder of victims' association La Parole Libérée, told church representatives at the report's presentation: "You are a disgrace to our humanity.
"In this hell there have been abominable mass crimes … but there has been even worse, betrayal of trust, betrayal of morale, betrayal of children."
And, not to mention, a betrayal of God!
François Devaux, founder of victim association La Parole Libérée, speaking Tuesday in Paris, accused the church of cowardice, saying the report would prove a turning point. (Thomas Coex/The Associated Press)
He accused the church of cowardice and thanked the commission, saying the report would prove a turning point: "You finally bring victims an institutional recognition of the responsibility of the church."
The French findings come a year after Britain said the Catholic Church had 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 had been more than 100 reported allegations a year since 2016.
In June, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis was a worldwide "catastrophe." Since his election in 2013, he has taken a series of steps aimed at wiping out sexual abuse of minors by clerics.
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.
Does that mean actions other than assigning them to a new diocese where they will find fresh victims?
But critics accuse Francis of responding much too slowly to the sex abuse scandals, of failing to empathize with victims and of blindly believing the word of his fellow clergy.
Sask. court file reveals new details of Catholic Church compensation
for residential school survivors
Jason Warick · CBC News ·
Posted: Oct 04, 2021 4:00 AM CT
The Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon was part of more than $300 million dedicated nationally to Catholic buildings since the signing of a 2005 compensation deal for residential school survivors, a promise that critics say was largely ignored. (Jason Warick/CBC)
WARNING: This story contains distressing details
A Saskatchewan judge has released files detailing the Roman Catholic Church's controversial $79-million compensation deal for residential school survivors following a successful court application by CBC News and the Globe and Mail.
This cache of documents, along with other internal papers obtained by CBC News in recent weeks, illustrates how Catholic officials, aided by a team of veteran lawyers, successfully fought years of federal government efforts to make them pay the full amounts promised in the landmark 2005 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
Advocates say they also add vital detail and context to the story of the Catholic Church's broken promises.
"I think the result is a really important outcome for openness and transparency for our court system. It goes to that old maxim that justice not only must be done — it must be seen to be done," said Sean Sinclair, a Saskatoon lawyer who argued the case on behalf of the two media organizations.
"It allows the public to find out what happened in this case, and it allows survivors to get answers."
CBC News requested the documents July 5 from the Court of Queen's Bench in Regina. The files date back to the 2015 decision by Justice Neil Gabrielson to approve the Catholic Church's buyout proposal.
That ruling absolved the Catholic church of its promise to pay $29 million in cash to residential school survivors. It allowed the Church to suspend its separate $25-million fundraising drive to raise money for survivors after raising less than $4 million. And it prevented further scrutiny of claims that it provided more than $25 million worth of "in-kind" compensation to survivors.
Court officials and judges had previously acknowledged they had the files, but declined to provide them, saying a formal court application must be submitted.
CBC News and the Globe made a joint submission and enlisted Sinclair to argue for the documents' release.
Last month, Gabrielson heard the case and agreed to grant access to the documents.
Transparency vital for survivors, says lawyer
Sinclair said transparency is a vital principle of the justice system, particularly on an issue of "tremendous public interest" such as residential schools.
"This affects survivors. This affects the public at large. And it's about the resolution of court case. It feels great to be able to assist people and to ensure our court system is transparent," Sinclair said.
Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation elder A. J. Felix, who spent 13 years in residential schools, said survivors and the public should have been able to see these documents right from the start. He and other survivors had threatened to drive to Regina and personally demand the files from the courthouse if this application had been rejected.
"A lot of the history was hidden, but the truth is starting to come out," Felix said. "Having this information is going to tell us how to deal with what we have in front of us."
Regina lawyer James Ehmann, who represented the Catholic entities in court, said he can no longer speak for them, and that no one else was available.
Bishops apologize, revive fundraising effort
Following weeks of calls to boycott Catholic mass, a petition to suspend the church's tax exempt status and a call for the Church to "do better" from federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett, bishops from across Canada issued a written public apology to residential school survivors Sept. 24. They also promised a renewed fundraising campaign with a goal of $30 million.
Indigenous organizations conflicted about Catholic bishops' apology
Felix said that's not good enough. Like the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and others, he's demanding a criminal investigation.
Felix said $30 million is insufficient considering the damage done to more than 100,000 survivors and their families, particularly when compared with the estimated tens of billions the Vatican holds in assets.
Saskatoon lawyer Sean Sinclair said transparency is a key element of the justice system, especially on the vital issue of residential schools. Sinclair successfully argued for the release of Catholic Church compensation documents on behalf of CBC News and the Globe and Mail. (Jason Warick/CBC)
Felix said there can be no forgiveness or reconciliation until all of the truth is revealed. He said the fight for these latest documents makes it clear there's still a long way to go.
"I'm not much of a forgiving person when it comes to forgiveness for this process, but I am one to seek redress," Felix said.
Court files detail Catholic Church, government dispute
The court files contain new information and elaborate on many of the individual revelations previously reported by CBC News.
For example:
1) Corporation formed to administer deal. The 50 Catholic entities that signed the 2005 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement formed a corporation to administer the deal. The "articles of incorporation" are contained in the cache released to CBC News and the Globe. It outlines the various classes of voting members, liability protection for directors, conflict of interest guidelines and rules for investing the corporation's assets.
It also obligates all officers and employees to sign a non-disclosure agreement. They are ordered to "retain as confidential all information provided such person by the Corporation or such information as may come into the possession of such person in the course of or incidental to such persons' duties and responsibilities."
The corporation was dissolved shortly after the 2015 buyout. Catholic officials contacted by CBC News in recent months have said there's no one left to speak about the deal because the corporation no longer exists.
2) Catholic church spent millions on legal fees and expenses.The Catholic entities spent more than $6 million on unapproved legal fees, administration, internal loans and other expenses. This included payments to lawyers sitting on the Catholic board overseeing the settlement. None of the other Christian churches involved (Anglican, Presbyterian or United) engaged in these practices and paid the full amounts they owed shortly after signing the 2005 agreement.
"Canada was never informed of this conflict of interest … no other church organization has claimed legal expenses, never mind legal expenses of $2.7 million," senior federal government analyst Pamela Stellick stated in a 2014 affidavit contained in the package released last month.
"As of today, there have been many problems in getting the Catholic entities to fulfil their obligations."
3) Church tried to claim expenses from survivors' funds. Catholic entities attending Truth and Reconciliation Commission events and meetings across Canada and paid their expenses from the pot of money dedicated to survivors. In a March, 2012, letter attached to Stellick's affidavit, another federal official tells corporation board chair and current Archbishop Gerard Pettipas this is a clear violation of the deal. She tells him Church officials "must not draw from funds to the disadvantage of the beneficiaries … I urge the [corporation] to fully pay what was owed to the AHF [Aboriginal Healing Foundation] as soon as possible."
In a September reply, Pettipas disagrees. He says mediation is required and federal lawyers should contact Pierre Baribeau, one of the lawyers sitting on the board of the corporation approving Baribeau's legal fees.
In November, Pettipas sends another letter. He says he still disagrees with the federal government dollar figures, but admits they will need to send further payment to the AHF. He notes they will start to audit and review all expenses charged by the corporation's counsel.
4) Catholic church absolved of paying full settlement amount. In a 2015 court decision, Gabrielson ruled in the Catholic entities' favour and absolved them from paying the full amounts. Gabrielson said a reasonable person would conclude that the two sides had already agreed to the deal, even though federal government lawyer Alexander Gay stated in emails, "We may have a problem," and, "We have no agreement on the terms of the settlement."
The court files did not contain any explanation of the $25 million worth of in-kind services. CBC News and the Globe separately obtained those documents last week through other channels.
Do you know of a child who never came home from residential school? Or someone who worked at one? We would like to hear from you. Email our Indigenous-led team investigating the impacts of residential schools at wherearethey@cbc.ca or call toll-free: 1-833-824-0800.
Survivors and advocates interviewed say many of the listed services, which the Catholic Church valued at more than $28 million, are nothing more than attempts to evangelize and convert Indigenous people. The list includes Bible study programs, placement of priests and nuns in remote northern communities, services under the frequently used label of "religiosity" and religious-document translation.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a former Saskatchewan provincial court judge and current director of the University of British Columbia's Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, reviewed the documents for CBC News.
She said this information is valuable for survivors, for academics studying this dark history and for the public to know the truth.
Turpel-Lafond said she plans to post these and other documents with explanations on the centre's website in the near future.
"It will allow First Nations communities and survivor organizations to see what happened. That accountability needs to be at the local and national level," she said.
Turpel-Lafond said the documents make one point clear: the Catholic Church officials betrayed survivors, and the federal government and courts failed to hold them accountable.
"From the get-go, this was not something survivors sat in the room and agreed to. Survivors were outside of this," she said.
"We now see this was questionable from the get-go."
This is simply deplorable! The actions and attitude of the church toward residential school survivors are indicative of an organization that has not come to repentance over its many sins and doesn't seem the least inclined to do so. Many church officials will find themselves very distressed when they stand before Jesus.
French actor breaks silence on child sex abuse within church
By SYLVIE CORBET,
today
PARIS (AP) — At the age of eight, Laurent Martinez was sexually abused by a priest. Forty years later, he has chosen to make his story into a play, to show the devastating consequences and how speaking out can help victims heal and rebuild.
The play called “Pardon?” is drawn from the French author and actor’s own life, describing how he felt devoured from the inside by the abuse and struggled with daily life after it.
Martinez’s play was shown to bishops earlier this year, ahead of the presentation of a groundbreaking report last week that estimated that about 330,000 children in France were sexually abused over the past 70 years within France’s Catholic Church.
Despite the shocking revelations, Martinez deplored that “there is no — absolutely no — sense of urgency” within the church.
“They are clearly slammed by the numbers” but “they are just talking, talking, talking,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
For Martinez, now 52, memories of the abuse remain vivid.
The priest who was teaching his catechism classes found pretexts to see the 8-year-old Martinez alone, kissing and touching his genitals, he said. One day, Martinez recalls, the abuser invited him to his apartment and forced the boy to engage in oral sex. Under French law, that would be classified as rape.
Martinez later told his parents, who alerted the diocese, and the priest was moved away. He believes the priest is now dead. Like most victims of sex abuse in the church, particularly before the church abuse scandals of the 2000s, Martinez didn’t seek legal recourse. Now it would be too late because of statutes of limitations.
For decades, Martinez buried the abuse inside him, only speaking about it to his two wives.
“For me, sexual relationships were marked in me as something forbidden. So it’s been very difficult for me to go through it, and I had to find very patient partners,” he said.
The play shows how the abuse affected his emotional and sexual life as an adult, making him sometimes grow aggressive or overreact to everyday worries — but also how it led him to be very protective towards children.
Martinez said he spent 40 years “wearing the mask of someone else” and “seeking to hide something that was like a cancer inside me.”
A few years ago, he felt he needed to speak out because he was fed up with keeping the trauma inside him. “I thought: I need to do something. It’s not possible to continue like that,” he said.
The play was shown for the first time at the Avignon arts festival in 2019. That is also when he first told his two sons, now 21 and 11, about the abuse. Since then, Martinez’s play has been playing in theaters in Paris and across France and a performance of it was shown on France’s Catholic television network KTO.
“I’ve been in pain for so long, and now I’m an actor so ... I’m acting my pain. I’m not in it anymore,” he said.
In recent weeks, Martinez, who lost his faith following the abuse, made a new, decisive step. After much hesitation, he asked the head of the Conference of Bishops of France, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, whether he could seek Martinez’ forgiveness in the name of his abuser.
“He accepted and it was tremendous emotionally for everybody that night,” Martinez remembers. “I gave my forgiveness to the priest that raped me.”
After that, “I felt really completely free of the whole burden of anger, of the desire of revenge. All the bad feelings I had just had vanished, just because I had forgiven,” he said.
“Little by little the trauma is disappearing,” Martinez added. “What helped more was to be able to forgive the priest.”
The actor had been previously in touch with Moulins-Beaufort, who supported the play and offered to show it to French bishops as part of the church’s efforts to face up to shameful secrets that were long covered up.
The offer is evidence of the Catholic hierarchy’s belated realization that listening to survivors is a fundamental part of the church’s own process of coming to terms with the problem and helping them heal.
Pope Francis came to that realization at a 2019 summit he convened with the heads of all the world’s bishops conferences, which featured wrenching testimonies from victims about abuse and the lifelong trauma it caused. For many bishops, it was the first time they had ever actually listened to a survivor, since so often the church ignored victims or treated them as an enemy out to harm the institution.
Among many recommendations in last week’s report about church abuse in France are measures that would institutionalize ways for church hierarchy to better help and hear victims. The report estimates that at least 2,900-3,200 male clergy members were responsible for sexual abuse of children in France since the 1950s, and accuses the church of a systemic coverup.
Martinez knows that his play is helping other people who suffered similar ordeals, and hopes it encourages them to speak out and seek help.
Some “come to see me and say: ‘Thank you so much, because, you know, this is also my story. And you are the first person I’m telling that to.’”
“The most difficult thing is to say it once,” Martinez stressed. “Then you get the strength to say it again and again and again. And then you’re free, or at least you are on the good path to freedom.”
Have you been sexually abused, even as a child? Tell people! Let it out before it eats you alive from the inside. And then work toward forgiving your abuser, it's amazing how freeing that is.
Catholic Church 'covered up' paedophile priest's sex attacks on boys
A judge today said a complaint from one boy's dad was "swept under the carpet"
Liverpool echo
A priest's sexual abuse of two altar boys was "covered up" by the Catholic Church, a judge said today.
Father Thomas MacCarte molested two children after letting them smoke cannabis and drink alcohol at Bishop Eton Monastery in Childwall.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the teenagers have since been plagued by anger, shame and "self-hatred", and one tried to kill himself.
But when one boy's dad complained to Bishop Eton's then parish priest Ralph Heskett - now the Bishop of Hallam in Sheffield - MacCarte was moved to Scotland, rather than reported to the police.
MacCarte, now 70, was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault over the attacks in Merseyside three decades ago and today jailed for four years.
Judge Gary Woodhall today said: "Rather than take action or investigate what had happened, you were simply moved on.
"The church records suggest that the reason for the move was put down to the provision of alcohol to other males.
"I am satisfied that on all the evidence that was deployed in the trial, that was not a complete report about what had been alleged against you.
"Whatever may have been communicated to those higher up within the organisation of the church, what actually happened was a cover up to avoid any embarrassment - the complaint was effectively swept under the carpet.
"You were moved on and allowed to continue working in the church and in communities without any investigation and your two victims were left wondering why it was you were simply moved on."
Judge Woodhall said it was clear MacCarte, now of St Mary's Monastery, Hatton Road, Perth, groomed both boys after he drank alcohol to excess.
He said: "You used both boys for your own sexual gratification, with little thought or concern about their needs or wishes.
"You bribed both with money and you threatened them that they were to stay silent, that nobody would believe them over a man of the church."
Judge Woodhall said the victims were concerned about the effect of accusing a man of the church.
He added: "Those threats and the imbalance in the relationship between you and them bought their silence and meant that they felt unable to pursue any complaint against you."
One victim, Boy A, thought the priest was "cool" for letting them hang out in his room, and not lecturing them about sex or lust.
But Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, said the priest would stroke the boy's hair and "talk about sex and mutual masturbation".
One time Boy A helped MacCarte get home after the priest had drunk too much, but as they walked down Woolton Road the priest grabbed him and forced his head under his cassock, to the area of his clothed groin.
Judge Woodhall today said: "He was able to fight you off."
The judge said MacCarte also took advantage of the vulnerability of Boy B, who had turned to him for support during a difficult time.
He said: "Rather than acting in a way to help him, you provided him with alcohol and money. You invaded his personal space, you would grab him in his crotch whilst handing money over and try and kiss him.
"On two particular occasions, when you had provided him with sufficient drink such that he was intoxicated, you gave him a pornographic magazine, no doubt to arouse him, and then you indecently assaulted him by removing his lower clothing and placing his penis in your mouth.
Bishop Eton Monastery in Woolton Road, Childwall (Image: Liverpool Echo)
"When you tried to get him to do the same to you, he was able to resist."
Boy B was so "troubled" by MacCarte's behaviour that he asked a friend to join him in going to MacCarte's room.
Judge Woodhall said: "You made advances towards this other young male and when he became uncomfortable the two young men left.
"The friend was so troubled by what he had seen that he punched a light switch when he got home."
He said the other boy's parents were alerted and because of this, or what Boy B told his dad about the abuse, Boy B's dad reported MacCarte to the church.
The two victims went to the police in 2019, after they discovered they had both been molested by the same priest.
Judge Woodhall said Boy A described how "being asked to pray for the man who abused him was damaging".
He said: "He describes how he suffered nightmares, an unshakeable fear he had done something wrong, unexplained guilt, shame and anger, leading to deep rooted self hatred."
Referring to Boy B, Judge Woodhall said: "He describes how what you did destroyed his relationship with Christ.
"He describes suffering from depression, anxiety and a life full of hatred, shame and guilt."
The judge said Boy B explained he also attempted suicide.
Peter Killen, defending, said MacCarte was "probably already an alcoholic" at the time, which he realised after he went to Scotland, and was drunk during the abuse.
He said the prosecution put to MacCarte in cross-examination that "he had been weakened by his own abuse of alcohol".
Mr Killen said MacCarte was of previous good character and went on to do "undoubtedly some good work over the next 30 years".
He said MacCarte at 70, asthmatic and a recovered alcoholic would find prison "very difficult".
Judge Woodhall said MacCarte "undoubtedly" had a problem with alcohol at the time, but carrying out the attacks while drunk was an aggravating not mitigating feature.
He said his good character was of "significantly less relevance here".
Judge Woodhall said: "It was in part your character as a priest that allowed you to have access in private to these boys and young men, and it's your good character in part that allowed you to commit the offences and to ensure no one complained."
The judge said his age also gave him "very modest mitigation".
Judge Woodhall said: "You have been able to live a normal life for the last 30 years, unlike your victims."
MacCarte must sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life.
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