The diocese of Besançon has launched an appeal to find "
possible victims
" of Raymond Jaccard, an abbot who died in 2021 known for his action with Cameroonian lepers, sanctioned during his lifetime after suspicions "
of
sexual abuse and spiritual” on adults.
The diocese "
invites any person or relative of the person concerned to contact the listening cell of the diocese by telephone, at 06.44.14.22.88
" or via the site diocese-besancon.fr, he indicates in a press release. transmitted Thursday, January 5 to AFP.
Reports for sexual and spiritual abuse
He had received in April 2020 "
oral and written information implicating
" this abbot, "
priest incardinated in the diocese of Besançon, for sexual and spiritual abuse of adults
", he explains. , without specifying the nature of these abuses, the place or places where they would have been committed or the number of potential victims.
Known for his action with Cameroonian lepers, Father Jaccard had notably designed with his brother Pierre, also a priest, who died in 2018, a prosthesis "
known throughout the world
" under the name of "
Jaccard prosthesis
", explains the diocese, calling to "
distinguish
" the suspicions weighing on the abbot "
from the works of the Jaccard Brothers (...), both priests of the diocese of Besançon
".
A preliminary investigation opened in 2020
On May 5, 2020, the Archbishop of Besançon, Mgr Jean-Luc Bouilleret, reported these alleged facts to the Chambéry prosecutor's office, Father Jaccard then residing in Savoie.
A preliminary investigation had been opened.
Bishop Bouilleret had at the same time seized the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which receives reports of abuses committed by clerics, and suspended Father Jaccard from any ministry, continues the diocese.
The death of the abbot, on August 29, 2021 at the age of 89, had ended the judicial inquiry but "
as the investigation stands, the facts denounced have been corroborated by numerous testimonies
", insists the diocese.
He wishes to “
express his involvement with regard to the victims and his determination to serve justice with clarity
”.
Read alsoSexual abuse in the Church: abroad, scandals, studies and blind spots
The Catholic Church has been rocked for years by sexual violence scandals.
Several retired bishops have thus been the subject of reports in recent months.
At the end of 2021, the report of the Sauvé commission had estimated at around 330,000 the number of victims of priests, deacons, religious or people linked to the Church of France since 1950. The episcopate had recognized its "
institutional responsibility
" in this violence .
SEE ALSO
- The former Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit under investigation for sexual assault after a report
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