The commission was created last June at the request of the French bishops. (Representative)
Paris, France:
At least 3,000 children have been victims of sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church since 1950, said the chairman of a commission to investigate the allegations on Wednesday.
Jean-Marc Sauve said preliminary figures suggest that some 1,500 clergy and other church officials had committed the abuses.
The commission was created last June at the request of the French bishops after a series of pedophilia cases that shook the Church in France and abroad.
A hotline urging victims to come forward has received 5,300 calls in the past year, said Sauve.
The estimated number of victims represents more than 40 cases per year on average over the past seven decades.
“I am deeply convinced that there are many more victims,” Sauve told reporters during a videoconference.
“What we don’t know is how to consolidate these two sources” of potential cases – the hotline and the commission’s own investigations, he said.
The call for witnesses was extended until October 31, and the review of church records resumed after being suspended when the coronavirus closed in France.
Pope Francis has promised to deal with criminal offenses in the church ranks, including in several cases where senior officials were aware of the sexual assault but did not inform the authorities.
Last year Francis adopted a measure requiring those who know of child sexual abuse to report it to their superiors, a move that should highlight many new cases.
The commission, headed by Sauve, a senior civil servant, includes jurists, doctors, historians, sociologists and theologians.
It is expected to produce a final report next year with recommendations on how to prevent abuse.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
