After contrition comes reparation. On Monday, the Bishops’ Conference of France (CEF) announced the French Catholic Church would compensate the estimated 216,000 victims of child sexual abuse in part by selling its assets. But how much are these assets worth? FRANCE 24 looks at the wealth of the Church in France.
“This morning, the bishops of France have decided to … divest themselves of real estate,” Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Bishops’ Conference of France (CEF), announced on Monday. “We will not take money from the Church’s yearly parish contributions, we will not use donations that the faithful make to us for [our missions].”
Cast from the shrine of Lourdes, the announcement comes at a critical moment. On October 5, the French Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in Church (ICSA) released a monumental report unveiling the extent of child sexual abuse that has taken place in the hands of the French Catholic Church.
An estimated 216,000 people over the age of 18 had been sexually abused as children by clergy since 1950. That number rises to 330,000 if secular perpetrators, such as lay members of the Church working at Catholic schools, are taken into account.
Part of the report included recommendations on how the Church should compensate the survivors. The ICSA urged the Church to pay them with its own assets instead of relying on donations from parishioners, demanded each person be compensated individually and said the reparations should be studied case by case.
>> French Catholic Church to sell assets to compensate sex abuse victims
The CEF agreed. Parishioners can still donate money directly to the endowment fund set up by the Church, dedicated to compensating survivors and preventing further abuse from taking place. That fund will be bolstered by selling real estate assets owned by the CEF and French dioceses. “We have also decided to…
Source : france24
