The Conference of Religious Men and Women in France (Corref), which represents Catholic congregations, pledged on Tuesday April 20 to provide "
financial compensation
" to victims of sexual assault committed within them and recognized "
collegial responsibility and spirituality of all
”congregations.
Read also: The Church's plan against pedophilia
Gathered by videoconference for two days in a general assembly, some 250 major superiors (responsible) "
adopted two resolutions
", announces in a press release the Corref, which brings together about 30,000 monks and nuns, brothers and sisters present in France. The first aims for the institutes to adopt a “
restorative justice
” approach
towards victims, comprising several stages, the first of which will start after the publication at the end of September of the recommendations of the Independent Commission on sexual abuse in the Church. Catholic (Ciase) since the 1950s.
"
Recognizing the facts and their causes, religious life (institutes and congregations, editor's note) in France will be
keen
to show its shame for these deviations
", underlines Corref.
Preventive measures will then be taken so that "
such acts cannot be perpetuated
".
The last stage "
will assume the obligation to take charge of the care and to participate financially in the repair of what can be repaired of the irreparable
", specifies the institution.
The "
terms
" of this support and this repair will be "
specified at (the next) meeting in November 2021
", she adds.
"
Carrying the essential responsibility of solidarity
"
In the second resolution, “
the Corref recognizes the collegial and spiritual responsibility for the whole of religious life
”. "
In one way or another, we have failed, including through ignorance, of the absolute solidarity which binds us to any person who is abused, assaulted, reduced to the state of an object, denied in his dignity
", assumes she does. For its president Véronique Margron, “
male and female institutes do not all bear the same responsibility for the acts committed, nor for failing or deviant systems. But we are all committed to carrying this essential responsibility of solidarity, which in no way removes the faults that some must assume
”.
The adoption of these two resolutions comes a little less than a month after the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) announced the payment of a “
financial contribution
” for victims of child crime, in particular to finance care, via the creation of an ad hoc fund.
They also expressed the will of the institution to “
assume its responsibility before society by asking for forgiveness
”.
Read also: Pedophilia in the Church: 314 victims and 202 officials in the diocese of Cologne according to a report
Corref and CEF are the two sponsors of the work carried out by Ciase. The latter has already estimated at least 10,000 the number of victims in France. As regards the authors, Corref does not have data on the proportion of them coming from institutes.
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