After the Sauvé report on pedocriminality in the institution, the Church must “accept with humility” its questioning, declared a priest sexually assaulted forty-five years ago, invited to testify before the bishops in Lourdes, this Tuesday.
“The Church can come out of it enhanced if it accepts with humility the questioning with which this work confronts us”, declared Jean-Luc Souveton, just before speaking alongside four other victims, in front of the plenary assembly of the 120 bishops of France, behind closed doors.
An annual meeting
“The report updates things that we knew – not necessarily all, not necessarily all – and also things that we had hidden,” said this priest of the diocese of Saint-Étienne, aged 60. “What made it possible for the Church to behave in such a way as to make all these situations of abuse possible over time? “, He asked himself, before adding:” This is where the responsibility of the Church is found. “
The Catholic bishops, gathered since Tuesday in Lourdes for their annual meeting, began their examination of the Sauvé report on child crime in the Church, in order to provide concrete answers to the expectations of the victims and the faithful. For seven days, the 120 or so prelates will devote nearly half of their work to the fight against violence and sexual assault on minors.