It is in all discretion that Gérald Darmanin presented this Monday evening the Legion of Honor to Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF), said the latter.
The Minister of the Interior praised "the courage and determination" of Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, a man "of conviction and dialogue", "in the face of the difficulties encountered by the Church concerning acts of pedophilia" .
The CEF is one of the two bodies of the Catholic Church to have commissioned Jean-Marc Sauvé's report on child crime in the Catholic Church since the 1950s, the publication of which in October caused a shock wave in the 'institution.
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The Minister of the Interior presented him with this decoration at the headquarters of the CEF in the 7th arrondissement, we learned from the entourage of Gerald Darmanin and the CEF, confirming information from the daily La Croix.
A ceremony which took place in the discretion, according to "the wish of the two parties", specified the CEF.
The date and the delivery by the minister had been scheduled since "the end of August", it was also pointed out.
By this gesture, Gérald Darmanin shows that relations are better between the State and the institution.
The day after the publication of the conclusions of the Sauvé report, Éric de Moulins-Beaufort had created controversy by asserting that the secrecy of confession was "stronger than the laws of the Republic", which had earned him to be summoned by the Minister of the Interior to explain it.
He then recognized a "clumsy wording".
