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By Céline Hoyeau | France
France's Catholic bishops this week radically changed their long-standing posture of dealing only grudgingly with victims of Church-related sexual abuse and unveiled an ambitious new program to take "institutional responsibility" for the abuse crisis, compensate the victims and reform the way they govern their dioceses.
"Our intention is that any victim who comes to us will be honored," said Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops' Conference (CEF), during a press conference on Monday at Lourdes.
He said he and his fellow bishops, who met for a November 2-8 plenary assembly at the Marian shrine, had voted on the program that morning by "a huge majority".
Observers described it as a revolution within the body of bishops.
In recent years, the French prelates seemed resistant to the demands made by abuse victims, agreeing to some of them only under intense pressure.
But the Church leaders have now indicated that they will shoulder their "institutional responsibility" to the end, without reserve and whatever the cost.
The bishops voted to create an independent national body for the recognition of and reparation for sexual violence in the Church.
It will be based on the model of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) and given the necessary funding.
The bishops have asked Marie Derain de Vaucresson, a respected French legal expert and former children's advocate, to lead the new office.
They already established a fund last March that will be used to pay compensation to the victims.
But contributions will obviously be insufficient, so the bishops have decided to draw "as much as necessary" from the security reserves of the dioceses and the bishops' conference by divesting themselves of real estate or movable property.
They said they will also take out a loan if necessary.
"We are working with legal experts to see how to remove the obstacles linked to the 1905 law that could prevent the use of some of these assets," said Bishop Olivier Leborgne, one of the two CEF vice-presidents.
Rich or poor, the dioceses will therefore be in solidarity with one another.
The bishops have dropped earlier plans to appeal for donations from the Catholic faithful or funds earmarked for the Church's religious mission.
"We will not refuse donations from anyone who would like to be associated with this process of restorative justice, but it is above all the institution that is committed to this," emphasized Bishop Dominique Blanchet, the other CEF vice-president.
Nine working groups led by lay people
The bishops, who worked all week in the presence of the apostolic nuncio, also announced that they will ask Pope Francis to send a team of visitors to examine how each diocese has handled abuse cases.
Some lay people and abuse victims have called for all the bishops to resign for mishandling the crisis. The Church leaders vowed on Monday that they would accept "whatever consequences, as necessary" that emerged from the pontifical visitation.
The bishops also showed a great determination to respond to CIASE's recommendations and engage in "a vast program of renewal of their governance" by voting to set up nine working groups completely led by lay people.
These groups will include members from various states of life, in order to respond to the synodal approach desired by the pope.
They will report on their work at each plenary assembly.
The process will culminate in a "synodal Church event" in the spring of 2023 where decisions will be taken, whether in terms of accompanying priests and bishops throughout their lives, auditing the listening units, reflecting on good practices in face of the revelation of cases of abuse or following up on abusive priests who have served their sentence.
One of the major critiques of the CIASE report was that Church power is concentrated in the hands of the bishops alone.
Archbishop de Moulins-Beaufort said that the working sessions with a hundred or so lay people that were invited to the CEF plenary at Lourdes had "convinced" the bishops that they "needed outside help" and could "learn to share in decision-making for a better service of the people of God".
These measures are, in fact, the fruit of a long process of coming to a new awareness.
"In recent years, we have sinned in the temptation to treat these cases only internally, among ourselves. We have now understood that we cannot progress without the scrutiny of others and of society," acknowledged the CEF president.
During his closing address to all the bishops earlier that morning he evoked the spirit in which these resolutions were taken, putting into words the decisive steps and the interior revolution he and his confreres had accomplished during the plenary assembly.
This recognition represents a "liberation" for the bishops
Without any pretense, de Moulins-Beaufort recalled that the bishops had shown resistance shown in recent years before decisively admitting last Friday that they bear "institutional responsibility" for the systemic pattern of abuse unveiled by the CIASE report.
"Without intending it, we were accomplices," he said.
"We spent time ... initiating procedures, shuddering while we wondered what this priest might or might not do, for fear that someone would start talking again," the CEF president admitted.
"We (have now) understood that we needed to say it more clearly, without worrying about consequences of any kind," he said.
What made them change their minds?
Archbishop de Moulins-Beaufort said that, in addition to the recommendations from CIASE, the bishops' conversion and new commitment was also "due to a great variety of the faithful who made it strongly known that they expected it of us" and "because society demanded it of us".
"We felt the gaze of God on us, because we felt disgust and fear rise up in us when we realized what so many people had experienced and were experiencing in terms of suffering," he said.
The CEF president shared his own spiritual journey in his closing address.
"I became aware that I could grow in my availability to people in precarious situations and in my attention to wisdom, and not only focus on the clamor they bring," he said.
This recognition marked a "liberation" for the bishops.
"We are free to be able to show that our Church, the one to which we belong and which we want to serve, cannot be an institution preoccupied with itself, engulfed in self-glorification," he said.
Archbishop de Moulins-Beaufort noted that the sculpted face of a crying child, which was unveiled Friday on the building of the CEF conference center in Lourdes, has become the icon of victims of sexual abuse in the Church.
It has also become the symbol of this new decisive awareness among the bishops.
In response to the 45 recommendations outlined in the CIASE report, the French bishops have decided to establish nine working groups on the following issues or topics:
1. Sharing of good practices in the face of reported cases.
2. Confession and spiritual guidance (recommendations 8 and 45).
3. Accompaniment of priests who have been implicated (R1).
4. Vocational discernment and formation of future priests (R44).
5. Support for the ministry of bishops (R13, 34).
6. Support for the ministry of priests (R35, 44).
7. Involving the lay faithful in the work of the bishops' conference (R34, 36).
8. Analyzing the causes of sexual violence in the Church (R2).
9. Having a means of oversight and control of associations of the faithful leading a communal lifestyle, and of any group relying on a particular charism (R5).
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