The French Catholic church acknowledges a staggering pattern of sexual abuse
Hundreds of thousands were victimised over 70 years
THE SHEER number was overwhelming. Between 1950 and 2020 at least 216,000 children were sexually abused in France by Catholic clergy. Thus, on October 5th, concluded a two-year independent inquiry commissioned by the church. Jean-Marc Sauvé, who led it, said it uncovered “the lead weight of silence smothering the crimes” committed by 2,900-3,200 clergy. If lay molesters involved in church activities were also included, the number of abused could reach 330,000.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The weight of silence”
Europe October 9th 2021
From the October 9th 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Europe
Germans are growing cold on the debt brake
Expect changes after the election
The Pope and Italy’s prime minister tussle over Donald Trump
Giorgia Meloni was the only European leader at the inauguration
Europe faces a new age of gunboat digital diplomacy
Can the EU regulate Donald Trump’s big tech bros?
Ukrainian scientists are studying downed Russian missiles
And learning a lot about sanctions-busting
How Poland emerged as a leading defence power
Will others follow?
Russian pilots appear to be hunting Ukrainian civilians
Residents of Kherson are dodging murderous drones