The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, estimated Thursday, October 7 that any person having knowledge of a crime on a child should be "released
from secrecy
", after the controversial remarks of the president of the Conference of the bishops of France on the secret of confession.
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Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, also Archbishop of Reims, declared Wednesday, the day after the publication of the Sauvé report on child crime within the Catholic Church, that the secrecy of confession was "
stronger than the laws of the Republic
".
The minister will receive it on Tuesday.
"
There is a professional secrecy that exists for lawyers, for doctors, and there is the secrecy of confession, which has also been partially recognized by our law for a very long time,
" said Gérald Darmanin on Thursday at Lyon, where he was traveling.
"
The law of the Republic is imposed on the laws of the churches
"
"
But when it comes to crimes that affect children and in order to avoid recidivism (...), it seems normal to me
", continued the minister in front of the press, to "be
able to release from secrecy the people who report to the justice or police services for children who are abused, assaulted
”.
Whether one is religious or not, "
one cannot let tens of thousands of children remain in the secret and not be able to share this information, (...) which is not comparable to any other confession
" , insisted Gérald Darmanin: "
one must be released, it is the law which says it besides, of the secrecy
".
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The minister invited Bishop de Moulins-Beaufort to come and discuss with him on Tuesday on “
this breach of secrecy
” of the confession in such cases. He has already thanked him for having "
himself corrected, completed
" his remarks. “
The law of the Republic prevails over the laws of the churches. It's like that. It is the French Republic,
”concluded Gérald Darmanin.
Earlier Thursday, Bishop de Moulins-Beaufort had defended for his part the secrecy of confession, "
which has always been respected by the French Republic
" and which "
is not contrary to French criminal law
", according to him.
The Sauvé report urged Church authorities to relay a clear message to confessors and the faithful on the confessor's obligation to report to judicial and administrative authorities cases of sexual violence inflicted on a minor or a vulnerable person.
