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Exclusive interview with a leading Jesuit theologian in France where a devastating report on sex abuse by Catholic priests and other Church employees has shaken the nation
By Gilles Donada | France
A newly released report on the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and other Church employees in France, shows insistence of paedocriminality among the clergy since 1950 are much worse than previously believed.
The Independent Commission of Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) issued its long-awaited report today in Paris and among its most horrifying findings is that French clergy abused more than 200,000 children over the past 70 years.
The so-called Sauvé Report (named for the commission's president) is already causing shock in France and in the global Catholic Church.
It will be especially painful for French Catholics, some of whom will question whether they can still trust their Church leaders or remain members of their faith community.
Étienne Grieu, a Jesuit priest and theologian who is rector of the university his order runs in Paris (Centre Sèvres), spoke with La Croix's Gilles Donada on the eve of the new report's release.
La Croix: The extent of sexual abuse, as it is expected to appear in the Sauvé Report, upsets Catholics. What do you want to say to them?
Etienne Grieu: This news is causing a great deal of emotion in our communities.
I believe that we must accept all these emotions: rebellion, anger, sadness, disgust, desolation.
And the most important thing is to accept them all together, even if we are tempted to isolate ourselves to cry.
We have to share these emotions that run through us, to listen to what these revelations provoke in us, in our relationship with the priests, with the Church, etc.
Taking this time is indispensable before we begin looking for answers.
Is it easy to look this reality in the face?
The temptation is to harden oneself by saying, for example: "I'm fed up, the Church is always under attack", "Why stir up this mire, it's hurting the Church?", "The Church is no worse than other institutions, look at the sports world or national education", "Let's stop self-flagellation!"
Yes, it's a shock, but we have to look reality in the face, without turning away, and see that this is our reality, alas!
If we do not face it, we will not move forward.
What does this phenomenon reveal about the functioning of the Church?
First, there is the systemic aspect of this evil. We have not put up safeguards to protect the faithful.
When we were aware of these criminal acts, not only did we not take the means to stop them, but we often protected the abusers and refused to listen to the victims.
Second, it calls into question how information is circulated in the Church.
How is it that we did not dare to say out loud what we were witnessing in secret? And how is it that we did not give credit to those who had the courage to alert us?
There was a kind of omertà (code of silence).
Those who speak the truth are very precious. The Church needs them, even if their words disturb us!
This scandal affects the image that we have of the priest...
This is obvious. In the Church, bonds of trust are extremely important.
And now our trust in ordained ministers (deacons, priests, bishops) has been shaken.
This leads us to remain vigilant.
Not to idealize them. We sometimes tend to put them on a pedestal.
Abusers often have a strong personality, which imposes itself and which we dare not contradict. They are the focus of attention.
Abuse occurs when the relationship is exclusive, most often because the priest himself dismisses others and sets himself up as the sole reference.
When you rely on one person, it is not healthy: a red alert must be triggered.
It is essential to rely on other Christian men and women: priests, deacons, lay people, consecrated persons, etc.
What attitude should we adopt?
It is good to remember that the priest is not untouchable. Like all human beings, he is fallible; he also has his defects, his wounds, his vulnerabilities.
An ordained minister is first of all a brother.
A certain theology of ministry tends to forget this.
What type of theology?
The one that presents the priest as "another Christ" (alter Christus).
This notion was emphasized in the 17th century by the French school of spirituality [Pierre de Bérulle, Saint Vincent de Paul, Jean-Jacques Olier, Saint Jean Eudes, Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, Bossuet, editor's note] and in line with the Council of Trent (1545-1563).
But this can lead to faulty theology when the priest is removed from the common condition.
For the Fathers of the Church, every Christian is a figure of Christ.
The priest is above all a brother, even if he is also a sign of the presence and the call of Christ.
We must ask ourselves about our ecclesial culture. But culture is very rarely questioned because we are immersed in it.
In the Creed, the believer affirms their faith in one "holy, catholic and apostolic Church". Don't you think that the holiness of the Church is also being put into question?
Holy does not mean perfect. When we say that the Church is holy, it means that it is turned towards God.
It is normal for Catholics to wonder whether the Church is not completely gangrenous with this evil.
Unfortunately, when we look at the history of the Church, this is not the first time it has been plagued by abominations: we need only think of the massacre of thousands of women accused of witchcraft or of the American Indians, the Inquisition, the Crusades, etc.
But where should we turn our focus?
To the Gospels, which remind us that there is nothing perfect about the Church.
In the Gospel of Mark, in particular, we discover disciples who are far from being superheroes: they drag their feet, they are off the mark... Jesus entrusts his Church to a man, Peter, who has betrayed him and publicly denied him!
As St. Paul reminds us, "we carry this treasure as if in earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4,7).
The essential thing is that the great body that is the Church remains turned towards God, in full solidarity with the distress of humanity, to bring it to him. Therein lies its holiness.
Beyond the shock of the revelations, what path is open to us?
When we go through crises, when our foundations are shaken, we realize, often afterwards, that the Holy Spirit does not abandon its Church.
We are being called to conversion, to a profound renewal.
In the midst of this cataclysm, we believe that something new can emerge.
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