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Catholic priests must report all allegations of child sexual abuse to police, including if they hear about it in the secrecy of the confessional, the French interior minister said after reprimanding the top bishop of France for asserting that the secrecy of the Catholic confessional was “above the laws of the Republic”.
France is in shock at the publication last week of a devastating independent report which found that at least 330,000 children have been sexually abused by Catholic clergy and lay members of church institutions over the years. Past 70 years, and that the crimes have been covered up in a “systemic manner” by the church.
The highest bishop of France, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, had initially expressed “shame and horror” at the report, but in an interview a few days later he sparked outrage by rejecting the recommendation of the commission to require priests to inform the police of any cases of child abuse discovered. during the sacrament of confession.
Moulins-Beaufort, the president of the Episcopal Conference of France, told Franceinfo: “The secrecy of confession is a requirement and will remain a requirement – in a way, it is above the laws of the Republic. It creates a free space to speak before God.
The Minister of the Interior called Moulins-Beaufort on Tuesday for a long meeting during which he clarified that professional secrecy – including that of the Catholic confessional – did not apply to revelations of potentially criminal cases of violence sex on children, which priests were required to report to the police and the courts.
Immediately after the meeting, Darmanin was applauded by parliamentarians in the National Assembly when he declared: “I told him what I say to all religions: there is no law which is superior to the laws. of the National Assembly and the Senate … The French Republic respects all religions from the moment they respect the Republic and the laws of the Republic.
Following the meeting, De Moulins-Beaufort released a statement asking for forgiveness from those offended by his comments last week. The French Bishops’ Conference said in a statement that the scale of the abuses detailed in the report meant the church would have to review its practices and that work was needed “to reconcile the nature of confession with the need to protect children “.
President Emmanuel Macron, who has criticized ultra-conservative Muslims in the past for what he called attempts to subvert French law, had asked the Minister of the Interior to hold the meeting with the Catholic bishop in order to “make sure things are clear”. the government spokesman said last week.
“Nothing takes precedence over the laws of the Republic in our country,” said the spokesperson, Gabriel Attal.
Moulins-Beaufort angered victim groups by saying priests were not required to report sexual abuse if they heard about it during an act of confession, a Catholic ritual used to admit sins. His words were in line with new Vatican guidelines, released last year on the handling of child abuse cases by the clergy, which state that any crime discovered during confession is subject to “the strictest bond of the sacramental seal. “.
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