The bishops of France, gathered in Lourdes, decided on Friday to “recognize the institutional responsibility of the Church” in the sexual assaults suffered by thousands of victims and the “systemic dimension” of these crimes, their representative, Mgr. Eric de Moulins-Beaufort.
These pedophile acts, the extent of which was brought to light by the recent Sauvé report, “were made possible by a general context, operations, mentalities, practices within the Church”, underlined the president of the Conference of Bishops (CEF), Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort. “This responsibility entails a duty of justice and reparation,” he added.