Sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church proves that vital lessons have not been learnt

The report into sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church, revealing that up to 330,000 children were victims of abuse by clergy over the past 70 years, is devastating; and further shatters confidence in the very institutions in which people have placed their trust. Similar scandals have rocked the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and beyond – both in the Catholic and Anglican Church.

Yesterday, as the head of the commission that compiled the report, Jean-Marc Sauve, gave his statement on its publication, one thing in particular leapt out. The abuse was systemic, he said, adding: “The Church not only did not take the necessary measures to prevent abuse but also turned a blind eye, failing to report abuse and sometimes knowingly putting children in touch with predators.”

The fundamental point was that lessons have not been learnt, and vital information was not acted upon. Not only does the Church need to find a way of making reparations, calling priests, and numerous lay-people to account who were directly culpable, it also needs to cut through this culture of denial and negligence.

Last month, the decision by Pope Francis to allow both the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, and Archbishop Stefan Hesse of Hamburg to remain in office was met with bewilderment and outrage by many members of the Catholic Church and beyond. Both men had tendered their resignations after facing criticism for their handling of allegations of past child sex abuse and, in the case of Woelki, for shelving a report into wrongdoing by priests (telling survivors that the it was not “legally watertight” and contained “inadmissible prejudices”).

Their penalty instead was to have a “spiritual leave of absence” of several months to “reflect”. Thomas Sternberg, the president of the Central Committee of (lay) Catholics, said he could not understand the Vatican’s decision.

“A period of leave just isn’t enough and won’t solve the crisis as it won’t regain the loss of trust,” he said. One of Germany’s top theologians, Thomas Schuller went further, describing it as “a declaration of moral bankruptcy”.

Just as we have seen with the Met Police this week, the Catholic Church needs, above all, to examine the vetting processes that are in place for both lay-clergy and priests; but also be willing to hold those to account who were complicit – who essentially did the unthinkable: trivialising and minimising the catastrophic impact it has had on the lives of victims by protecting the perpetrators.

Leadership is not just about lip service, it’s about taking difficult decisions and sending a clear message to victims and their families: what happened does matter; the perpetrators, wherever possible, will be held responsible.

Yours,

Serena Tarling

Deputy foreign editor