The number of people claiming to be victims of abuse by the co-founder of the Foyers de la charité who died thirty years ago has almost doubled, " confirming serious acts ", said Sunday 7 June the moderating father of the work in a letter.
Read also: The Foyers de Charité, a Catholic work, recognize sexual abuse by their founder
" I can tell you that to date, more than twenty testimonies have been added to the twenty-six mentioned " following a previous investigation, writes Father Moïse Ndione, father moderator of the Charity Homes Organization .
" These new testimonies confirm in a concordant manner the serious acts of Father Finet, " adds Father Ndione. " Why would these people lie? What would make them lie? ", He continues without giving more details on the testimonies. " Other people ", the number of which is not specified, delivered " positive testimonies ," he wrote in a letter to the members of the Work.
In early May, an internal report released to the public reported 26 women, most of them minors at the time of the events, claiming to be victims of physical or psychological abuse during confessions. This report followed the establishment of an independent research commission decreed following several reports and the publication of a testimony in the press.
In a few months, she collected nearly 150 testimonies over a period from 1945 to 1983. Most came out to defend Father Finet but 26 women, mostly former students of the Foyer de Charité de Châteauneuf school establishment- de-Galaure (Drôme) and aged 10 to 14 at the time of the events, denounced his behavior during confessions.
" Fourteen concordant accounts attest to touching of the body on the part of Father Finet and 20 testimonies attest to insistent and intrusive questions of a sexual nature ", writes the commission in its report which speaks of " inappropriate gestures ", of " abuse of power " .
The concordant testimonies make it possible to draw up the operating mode of the religious: confessions late at night in his office-room and pupils kneeling very close to him or sometimes on his knees. He " particularly focused confession on sexuality, " say the alleged victims.
The commission also received nine testimonies concerning abuses possibly committed by other people, some of whom were the subject of reports to the judicial authorities.
The Foyers de la charité, which organize spiritual retreats all over the world, were founded in Drôme in 1936 by Father Finet and Marthe Robin. The institution has 78 homes worldwide that welcome 50,000 people a year. Schools or holiday accommodation are also attached to certain homes.