Almost a week after his controversial statements, the president of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) will have to "explain" the secrecy of confession to the Ministry of the Interior, where he is received this Tuesday by Gerald Darmanin.
The day after the publication of the Sauvé report which shed a harsh light on the importance of the facts of pedocriminality in the Catholic Church, Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort considered that the secrecy of confession was "stronger than the laws of the Republic ".
The Minister of the Interior then indicated that he would receive him, at the request of Emmanuel Macron, to ask him to "explain his words".
The meeting between the two men, set at 2:00 p.m., will allow an exchange "on the meaning of the sacrament of confession for Catholics and on the theological, spiritual and canonical foundations of the secrecy of confession", according to the president of the THIS F.
"Eric de Moulins-Beaufort seeks appeasement"
The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (Ciase), chaired by Jean-Marc Sauvé, recommends that the Church relay a clear message on the obligation of the confessor to report to the authorities cases of sexual violence against a minor or a vulnerable person.
A lifting of the secrecy of the confession that Jean-Marc Sauvé once again justified Monday in an interview with Christian Family: "The obligation to protect people's lives is, from our point of view, greater than the obligation of secrecy of the confession which aims in particular to protect the reputation of the penitent ”, he reaffirmed.
According to Bishop de Moulins-Beaufort, "the secrecy of confession has always been respected by the French Republic", and is "not contrary to French criminal law", as he said in a circular from the chancellery of August 2004 (on the professional secrecy of religious leaders).
"Eric de Moulins-Beaufort seeks above all appeasement and will meet Mr. Darmanin in this perspective," said Karine Dalle, communications officer of the CEF.
Read alsoSexual abuse in the Church: the secret of confession stronger than the law, really?
The Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, recalled Friday the legal framework of the secrecy of confession, affirming "the urgent need" for priests to alert on the facts of pedocriminality.
Jean-Marc Sauvé however wished that "the tree of the secrecy of the confession does not hide the forest of all the recommendations" (45 in total) of his commission.
The subject, hot, caused a reaction: several associations of victims expressed their weariness or even their indignation at the words of the episcopate.
In a text, three personalities, including the co-founder of the victims association La parole libérée (now dissolved) François Devaux, demanded Monday "the collective resignation of all the bishops in office", "as a sign of 'hope and renewal'.
