A religious of the Brothers of Saint John, Benoît-Emmanuel Peltereau-Villeneuve, who had been the subject of reports for “
serious sexual assaults
”, has been dismissed from the clerical state by Pope Francis, announced the Catholic institute in a press release on Tuesday, January 24.
"
Pope Francis has decided to dismiss Benoît Peltereau-Villeneuve from the clerical state without the possibility of appealing or filing an appeal
", write the Brothers of Saint John, specifying that it is a decree signed in December by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) at the Vatican.
End of a long process
The Brothers of Saint-Jean “
take note of this decision which was expected and which came to conclude years of procedures, long and painful for the persons concerned
”, they add.
The CDF had already pronounced this sentence in 2011, but the religious had appealed, according to the institute.
The alleged facts, which date back “
to the 1990s for the oldest
”, “
are numerous and serious
” in particular “
in the context of the spiritual accompaniment of sisters of Saint-Jean and adult women
”, affirms the institute.
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Benoît-Emmanuel Peltereau-Villeneuve had been "
prior (superior of a convent, editor's note) in Geneva for 12 years between 1988 and 2008 and organizer of important events
", such as the Agapé Festival, international festival of music and sacred art , according to the same source.
The Accused's Counterattacks
At the beginning of 2008, “
following complaints, the bishop of Geneva (the) had relieved of his ministry and made a report to the Swiss justice
”, which then closed the case for prescription of the facts, indicates the institute.
According to this source, the religious also seized the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Swiss justice and in 2014, the ECHR condemned Switzerland for violation of the presumption of innocence.
“
He also filed a complaint against a brother, a sister and several lay people, accusing them of having slandered him
”.
“SOS-abuse”
The Brothers of Saint John have some 450 religious, apostolic -committed "
in the world
"- present on the five continents.
In the past, several “
little grays
” (so called because of the color of their coat) have been tried for sexual violence.
In 2015, the institute created an “
SOS-abus
” commission, “
responsible for dealing with cases of sexual abuse of which the brothers are guilty or for which they are implicated
”.
In 2019, this commission counted 27 brothers who committed sexual assaults on adults and 6 on minors.
Benoît-Emmanuel Peltereau-Villeneuve was one of these 27, the religious institute told AFP.