330,000 children in France were victims of church sex abuse: report

Global News – September 21, 2023

An estimated 330,000 children were victims of sex abuse within France’sCatholic Church over the past 70 years, according to a report released Tuesday that represents the country’s first major accounting of the worldwide phenomenon.

The figure includes abuses committed by some 3,000 priests and other people involved in the church — wrongdoing that Catholic authorities covered up over decades in a “systemic manner,” according to the president of the commission that issued the report, Jean-Marc Sauve.

The head of the French bishops’ conference asked for forgiveness from the victims, about 80 per cent of whom were boys, according to the report. The bishops are meeting Tuesday to discuss next steps.

The independent commission urged the church to take strong action, denouncing “faults” and “silence.” It also called on the Catholic Church to help compensate the victims, notably in cases that are too old to prosecute via the courts.