The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Santier affair: how the French Catholic episcopate finally recognized a "lie"

2022-12-04T09:32:41.598Z


LETTER "GOD ALONE KNOWS" N°38 - This new episode is of absolute gravity for the immediate future of the Church of France which is losing its credibility outside but also inside the community.


Dear reader, dear reader,

Happy to write to you, hoping that this letter will find you well.

The Catholic Church is once again imposing itself in the flow of the news since the French episcopate is sinking into a serious crisis.

We could summarize the episode in a simple way, but that does not allow us to get to the root of the problem:

moral scandals in the Church have hit priests, they are now hitting bishops.

Let's start by talking about the facts as precisely as possible because it's time for confusion.

Then we will try to identify some deeper causes.

This topic will bring a sigh of weariness to some people.

For several years now, the news of the Church has been swimming in these brackish waters.

Its stake is however fundamental for the future of the Catholic Church in France.

This letter is the longest that I will have written to you because

this new episode is of absolute gravity for the immediate future of the Church of France which is losing its credibility outside but also inside the community.

.

The faithful are still welded around their priests but this time, confidence in the institution has been broken.

So I tried to gather all the possible factual elements so that we can see more clearly.

Writing this letter for you has also been useful for me to better understand this subject.

Thanks for reading.

The context

The pedophilia crisis affecting a minority of priests in the Church – even if a pedophile priest is one priest too many – has considerably discredited Catholicism despite its notable efforts to eradicate this evil.

Triggered around the 2000s, it reached its climax for our country a year ago, in October 2021, with the publication of the report by the CIASE, an independent commission financed by the episcopate to the tune of 2.6 million euros. euros, responsible for studying these abuses.

This report was to mark the beginning of a way out of the crisis.

For now, he seems to have rushed it.

After the priests, the episcopal rank has now been in the hot seat since mid-October 2022.

Indeed,

alongside the indignation provoked by these “episcopal” abuses, there was added a scandal within a scandal

.

On the occasion of the Santier affair (read below) certain leaders of the episcopate and not the least knowingly applied an omerta in 2021 and 2022

, while these same officials had promised on their knees clarity on this kind of file. in Lourdes in October 2021…

This silence has provoked unprecedented anger among many moderate lay Catholics,

in the world of priests and even among bishops because many have been excluded from the information.

Young lay people thus launched the collective “acting for our Church”.

Their slogan “#take out the trash!”

was carried before the churches in half of the dioceses of France.

Which is nothing.

The image of the waste disposal center is rough but it hit the mark.

To crown it all, an

awkwardness of language

of the episcopate, in Lourdes, on November 7, gave

the impression that 10% of the bishops, there are a hundred of them, were "challenged" by justice

on matters of manners!

The confusion is total

.

After the mind-blowing figures of pedophile priests, from a very questionable INSERM poll in October 2021 of the CIASE report, which conveyed the image of a Church that is a "systemic" enterprise of massive sexual abuse - which is false since between 95 and 99% of priests are not pedophiles - now there is a new staggering proportion of bishops who are allegedly involved in abuse.

Which is not correct.

There are therefore

three levels in these episcopal affairs

 :

  • A

    personal level

    that reaches particular bishops

  • An

    institutional level

    with the scandal in the scandal of the Santier affair, with the dissimulation, by the leadership of the episcopate, in 2021 and 2022, of the real cause of the departure of Bishop Santier who did not leave his post for "health reason".

  • A

    level of communication

     : the episcopate gave the impression that 10% of the bishops were implicated by justice.

Facts

A

quick inventory of the cases is

necessary to fully understand what is at issue because confusion has dominated since the episcopate suggested that ten bishops were "implicated" by justice.

There are

four types of cases

.

“Bishops” are involved

 :

  • Either

    because bishops, knowing of situations of pedophile priests, did not report the problem to justice

    .

    They were sentenced or acquitted:

1)

PIERRE PICAN

, deceased, sentenced in 2001 (three months suspended sentence) for not having denounced Father René Bissey who had sexually assaulted children between 1987 and 1996. This priest was sentenced in 2000 to 18 years in prison. jail.

2)

ANDRÉ FORT

, 87 years old, former bishop of Orléans, sentenced in 2018 (eight months suspended prison sentence) for not having reported to justice Father Pierre de Castelet accused of sexual assault on a minor in 1993 , but this case was dismissed due to the statute of limitations.

Three victims then filed a complaint against Bishop Fort in 2016, which led the bishop to be sentenced in 2018.

3)

PHILIPPE BARBARIN

, 72 years old, former Archbishop of Lyon, acquitted in 2020 of the accusation of "non-denunciation of sexual assaults on minors" and "non-assistance to persons in danger" in relation to the affair of Father Bernard Preynat, 77 years old.

The latter abused at least twenty young people between 1972 and 1991. He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2020.

  • Either

    because bishops, when they were priests, themselves committed sexual abuse on minors or adults that they recognized

    .

    There are four known cases in order of appearance starting with the most recent.

    Three recognized, the fourth, famous, denied.

4)

JEAN-PIERRE GRALLET

, 81, former Archbishop Emeritus of Strasbourg, acknowledged on November 16 "serious acts against a young woman of full age at the time of these events, and which date back to the fall of 1985 when that he was a priest", according to his successor Mgr Ravel.

“At the end of the 1980s, when I was a Franciscan religious, I made inappropriate gestures towards a young adult woman, behavior that I deeply regret,” wrote Bishop Grallet.

Cardinal, former archbishop of Bordeaux, former president of the conference of bishops, Jean-Pierre Ricard has admitted "reprehensible" conduct on a minor.

PATRICK HERTZOG / AFP

5)

JEAN-PIERRE RICARD

, 78 years old, cardinal, former archbishop of Bordeaux, former president of the conference of bishops, admitted by letter made public on November 7, 2022, “reprehensible” conduct on a minor:

“There are 35 years, when I was a priest, I behaved in a reprehensible way with a young girl of 14 years, ”

he wrote.

He placed himself at the disposal of civil and canonical justice

.

6)

MICHEL SANTIER

, 75, former bishop of Créteil, from whom we learned on October 13, 2022, by the weekly Famille-Chrétienne, that he had not resigned on June 6, 2020 for "

health reasons

" - according to the official version - but because two plaintiffs - then three others since - accused him, in 2019, of having practiced "strip-confessions" when he was a priest... It was in the 90s. This priest asked the penitent to gradually undress during the confession.

This he acknowledged in the letter of resignation addressed to the Pope during 2020 and effective on January 9, 2021.

But

which had never been said publicly by the Church, except after and under the pressure of revelation in October 2022

.

This is the other dimension of the Santier affair, the scandal in the scancale, covered by the direction of the episcopate.

Here is, for example, what Bishop Santier wrote to the Catholics of his diocese on June 6, 2020 to explain his departure:

“I was used to the fresh air of Normandy and Vendée;

the polluted air of the Paris region does not suit me, it led to lung problems and the doctors diagnosed asthma which also led to sleep apnea.


Seeing that I will not have the physical strength to continue my ministry among you until I am 75 and having gone through other difficulties, at the end of 2019 after reflecting, praying and taking advice, I wrote to the Pope François to hand over to him my office as Bishop of Créteil.

He answered me favorably and accepted my resignation.

The Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor Celestino Migliore, in a meeting after my discharge from the hospital, conveyed to me the decision of the Holy Father and welcomed me warmly.

He asked me to speak directly to you in this way.

»

The bishop, as if to give more weight, adds in relation to the hospitalization for Covid 19 that he had just undergone: “

The ordeal that I have just gone through has not helped matters.

I am recovering well but the fatigue remains.

At the time,

the incise "

and having passed through other difficulties

", had been noticed but no one had dug

.

7)

JEAN-MICHEL DI FALCO

, 81 years old, former bishop of Gap.

On July 7, 2022, the Court of Cassation published an order annulling a judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal.

The latter considered in 2018 that the charges against Father di Falco in a criminal complaint filed in 2001 by one of his former students were time-barred.

She had therefore declared a dismissal.

In 2022 the Court of Cassation allows this civil procedure to be relaunched.

The accuser of Mgr Di Falco, affirms that this priest who was then director of the small college Saint Thomas d'Aquin in the 7th arrondissement in Paris, would have "

sexually assaulted"

him in the 1970s and "

raped

" Many times.

The young man was then between 12 and 15 years old.

His identity is not known.

His alias is "Marc".

He is defended by Maître Jean-Baptiste Moquet, lawyer at the Paris bar.

In 2002, another complaint for the same type of aggression, coming from another man, also a former student but at the Bossuet college, where Father Di Falco had also been chaplain, was also dismissed, not on the merits, but for prescription (prescription means that the legal deadline for reporting or filing a complaint has been exceeded).

Charges that Father Di Falco, who became auxiliary bishop of Paris to Cardinal Lustiger, in 1997, then bishop of Gap in 2003 has always denied filing a complaint against X for slanderous denunciation.

However, he was dismissed on this point in 2004 because he

  • Either, last case, because bishops, when they were bishops (and no longer when they were priests) have or would have themselves committed sexual abuse of minors or adults.

    There are two known cases in order of most recent appearance.

    One was decided by the courts.

    The other is under investigation with a view to a judgment which should not be long in coming:

8)

EMMANUEL LAFONT

, 77, former bishop of Cayenne, is under civil investigation and canonical investigation, following a complaint filed on March 18, 2021 for "

abuse of weakness

" by a plaintiff Haitian asylum seeker, a certain José, 27 years old.

The public prosecutor of Cayenne clarified that the preliminary investigation was aimed at "

aggravated human trafficking

", "

assistance with illegal residence

" and "

aggravated breach of trust

".

Bishop Lafont had himself filed a complaint in October 2020 against this young person whom he was hosting for "

acts of violence

".

But the refugee in question accuses him of having wanted to impose "

homosexual relations " on him.

» which Mgr Lafont formally denies: «

It is false, quite simply false.

I had no sexual relationship in exchange for anything,”

he told

La Croix

.

But in 2008, Bishop Lafont had already been questioned by five priests of the diocese who denounced his financial and sexual mores.

This had earned him a canonical visit sponsored by Rome.

9)

HERVÉ GASCHIGNARD

, 63 years old, dismissed from his office as Bishop of Aire and Dax, by Pope Francis on April 6, 2017, he was 57 years old.

The press release from the episcopate, signed on April 6, 2017 by Mgr Georges Pontier, then president of the bishops, had mentioned "

rumors

" which "

persisted on inappropriate pastoral attitudes of the bishop

", which made "

difficult the government of the diocese

”.

He was criticized for having too much “

physical closeness

” with young people during pastoral activities.

The case was finally dismissed on June 27, 2017 by the Dax prosecutor's office, which confirmed the existence of "

gestures

" or "

inappropriate words

of the bishop while considering that they did not come under a "

criminal qualification

".

It was a dismissal.

In 2011, when Mgr Gaschignard was auxiliary bishop of Toulouse, similar facts had been reproached to him by four families whose parents were supervisors of a mountain bike pilgrimage.

Without filing a complaint, they had written to the bishop of Toulouse to point out this same type of "

closeness

» physics with young teenagers.

Archbishop Le Gall also made a report to the public prosecutor of Toulouse who dispatched an investigation by the SRPJ.

The police considered that these facts did not fall within a criminal framework.

In December 2011, this case was also dismissed by the Toulouse prosecutor's office.

On January 24, 2012, he was appointed Bishop of Dax by Benedict XVI.

The scandal within the Santier scandal

In its communication, on November 7, the episcopate spoke of “9” cases, then of “11” cases, then of “10 cases”.

And especially that two other cases are not yet publicly known while having been announced by the episcopate.

This article is for subscribers only.

You have 56% left to discover.

Free to subscribe.

Free to unsubscribe.

Keep reading your article for €0.99 for the first month

I ENJOY IT

Already subscribed?

Login

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-12-04

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.