French catholic church inquiry finds 216,000 abuse cases between 1950-2020

Hotblack Desiato · 10-10-2021 3:59pm

Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict) was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for over 20 years, which received the reports of abuse from all over the world, so he knew first-hand what was going on but it didn't seem to prompt much in the way of reform either when he was in effect JPII's right-hand-man, or when he was pope himself.

Peregrinus · 11-10-2021 1:21am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117992436#Comment_117992436

The issue is not why they did it, but whether they did it. The OP complains that . . .

"What I don't understand is why the Roman Catholic organisation is not investigating itself? It has known for decades that it was a haven for pedophiles and child abuse. The relevant state bodies always seem to be the ones uncovering the truth. Surely the church themselves need to instigate investigations across the world and report on their crimes against children."

. . . while linking to a newspaper report about a major investigation instigated, not by the "relevant state bodies", but by the church.

Brucie Bonus · 11-10-2021 1:24am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118002898#Comment_118002898

Way too little way too late. They also continue to block living survivors and the families of the dead from mother and baby homes.

They should be outlawed as an organisation.

Cluedo Monopoly · 11-10-2021 10:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117991391#Comment_117991391

France is a truly secular state. While paid for by the church, it was a completely independent inquiry. They spent more than 2 years analysing police/court and church records and speaking to victims.

My question is why the church themselves didn't investigate themselves over 70 years and hand over their own internal data, reports, action plans? They knew every other developed country with a significant Roman catholic presence had a child abuse problem. We've had numerous clerical child abuse investigations over the last 20 years.

The commission said the Church had not only failed to prevent abuse but had also failed to report it, at times knowingly putting children in contact with predators.

He said that until the early 2000s, the Church had shown "deep, total and even cruel indifference" towards victims.

He added that sexual abuse within the Catholic Church continued to be a problem.

While the commission found evidence of as many as 3,200 abusers - out of a total of 115,000 priests and other clerics - it said this was probably an underestimation.

Peregrinus · 12-10-2021 1:10am

Well, if your question is "why do wrongdoers not investigate and denounce themselves?" I think the answer is obvious, really. As long as the church tries to manage child abuse by covering it up and relocating perpetrators, it is not going to accuse itself publicly of covering up child abuse and protecting perpetrators.

If the question is whether the church has repented of this behaviour and is now committed to a different course, and your test for that is whether the church is investigating itself, making its records available, etc., then the new report that you link to suggests that, yes, the French church, at any rate, is doing that.

13-10-2021 8:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118007269#Comment_118007269

I wouldn't say that it's proof of reforming. If it were, they'd be actively pushing for similar investigations in any countries they've got substantial activity in. Instead we get a drip feed of a different country each year. And invariably crap compensation for the victims.

Peregrinus · 13-10-2021 8:24am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118012271#Comment_118012271

Just to be clear: I'm not putting it forward as proof of reforming or, rather, a test for reforming; it's the OP that puts it forward. My point is more that, having puts it forward, he denies that it is happening but the evidence that he appeals to is, in fact, an example of it happening.

Cluedo Monopoly · 14-10-2021 10:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118012325#Comment_118012325

I don't think the French church paying for an independent inquiry in 2018 is much proof of reform. It was set up in response to a number of child abuse cases reported in France at the time. They have known for decades that there was a problem and there is no evidence that the French catholic church handed the commission their own investigation report. The French commission said that the Church had not only failed to prevent abuse but had also failed to report it. The burden of the report is that ad-hoc expressions of repentance and a bit of tinkering with ecclesiastical structures are no longer good enough. Most cases are now too old to prosecute under French law.

The pope said he only heard about the report in recent weeks.

French catholic church inquiry finds 216,000 abuse cases between 1950-2020

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