Officials of the Conference of Religious of France (Corref, Catholic congregations) voted "
unanimously
" the creation of an "
Independent Commission for recognition and reparation
" for victims of
child crime,
said Friday, November 19 to AFP its president, Véronique Margron.
Read alsoReport Sauvé: "We must finally do justice to the victims, to the shattered lives"
“
We voted for the creation of the Independent Commission of Recognition and Remediation,
” by a “
unanimous
”
vote
, said Sister Margron.
This is a separate structure from the Independent National Authority for Recognition and Reparation (Inirr) announced in early November by the bishops of France.
"An act of reparation"
The primary mission of this new body created by Corref will be to recognize the victim's words, to "
give him faith
". “
It is an act of reparation,
” Sister Margron explained at the end of a general assembly of this organization which was held for four days in Lourdes. "
From there, according to the wish of the victim, the commission will mediate - either itself or via other mediators - with the religious institute concerned
", from which the victim's aggressor comes, for a possible financial compensation. According to her, "
the art of this commission will be to obtain a consensus
" between the two parties.
The 300 or so officials of Corref, which represents the monks, nuns, brothers and sisters of the Church, have also voted for the creation of a subsidiary endowment fund "
for the moment supplied to the tune of 500,000 euros
".
It will be used when the religious institute no longer exists or when it is notoriously insolvent, Sister Margron said.
The functioning (offices, secretariat, etc.) of the Commission will be "
assumed by the women's congregations
".
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The endowment fund will be "
especially supplied by male institutes, which will pay a membership fee per number of religious in France,
" Sister Margron added.
The decisions of Corref follow the publication of the Sauvé report which shook the whole institution by revealing the extent of child crime in the Catholic Church since 1950.