Anyone, regardless of when situations of abuse or control occur, can contact the Independent Listening Unit: secretsacre78 @ gmail.com
In recent years, many cases of sexual abuse and abuse of power have been revealed to the general public, and in some cases they have allowed people to speak out and denounce extremely serious facts that have been ignored for too long. In response to this catastrophe, we must accept reality and listen to the words of victims of abuse in the Church. These abuses particularly concern churches and religious movements, all over the world. In France, at the request of the bishops of France and the leaders of religious congregations, an Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (ICSAE) composed of twenty-two professionals with varied skills conducted an investigation for two and a half years in order to shed light on the sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church since 1950, to understand the reasons that favored the way in which these cases were handled and to make recommendations on the measures to be taken.
Their report, made public on October 5, 2021, showed the unimaginable extent of the abuses committed within the Church. This investigation reveals "a disaster" on several levels of explosion, which for Véronique Margron, the president of Corref (Conference of Religious Men and Women in France) makes us feel "a carnal shame, an absolute shame". The first level of impact: a number of victims much higher than expected with an estimate of 216,000 people victims of priests, deacons and religious since 1950 and even 330,000 if we add the victims of lay people on mission in the Church. Second disaster: a higher prevalence in the Church than in other places.
Fondacio strongly condemns these abuses and reiterates the importance it attaches to listening to victims. Since the founder's resignation in May 1991, Fondacio has been working to learn lessons from the awareness and work undertaken ( Cf. Journal La Croix, "Ces fondateurs qui ont trahi", February 27, 2020).
Prevention work and listening to victims
For three years, the Fondacio Council, with country managers and external specialists, has committed resources to continue such reflection and set up two specific systems:
- An internal service at Fondacio for the prevention of abuse, with a first stage in 2018 relating to an investigation into the systems for protecting minors already underway within Fondacio at the international level and a second stage in 2019 and 2020 concerning the establishment of systems for listening to victims.
- In France, an independent listening unit was launched in December 2020. It is a listening space for victims and for dealing with the trauma experienced, thanks to the support of a psychologist, independent of Fondacio and trained in listening to victims.
The Independent Listening Unit interviewed victims of sexual abuse and control within Fondacio. The knowledge and seriousness of these acts, committed before 1991, led to a report to the judicial authorities during the summer of 2021.
Together, as a community, rising to the challenge
As Pope Francis said: “Our expressions of contrition must be converted into concrete measures of reform, to prevent further abuses and to restore confidence that our efforts will lead to real change.”
For Fondacio, this is a call to continue the changes already made in our organization. To prevent any influence that could arise during the spiritual accompaniments offered to members of the community, we are committed to deepening the professional training of the accompanists as well as their supervision. It is to this conversion that we wish to continue to respond, in order to be Christians for the world and build a more humane and more just world.
> see video of CIASE report submission on KTO (in French)
We invite you to read this report to gauge the extent and gravity of the facts, in order to be in communion with the victims. By facing the overwhelming reality, it is possible to allow oneself to be joined by the abysmal suffering of the victims and to open oneself to a path of compassion.
All CIASE documents - full report, report summary, victims' stories - are available on its website ciase.fr. A summary in English is available, the full report will be translated by the end of the year. Microsoft Word - CIASE - Summary of the final report, October 5, 2021
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