Nearly 200 church sex abuse victims get compensation from France’s Catholic Church
Nearly 190 victims of child sexual abuse by priests or other representatives of the Church have been promised financial compensation from France’s Catholic Church as part of a comprehensive reparations programme, the independent body in charge of the process said on Thursday.
A report by the Independent National Authority for Identification and Reparation, or INIRR, said 11 other people received other types of compensation. Hundreds of other cases are still awaiting review.
More than 1,180 victims or other representatives of the church have come forward to claim compensation, Marie Derain de Vaucresson, head of the INIRR, said during a news conference. She said that 32% were female and 68% were male. Of them, 404 are now receiving support from INIRR, while most are awaiting scrutiny of their cases.
Derain de Vaucresson said 80% of the amount awarded so far is above $21,128, including 40 people who received the maximum amount set at $63,386.
Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral will reopen in December 2024
Bishops kneel in the forecourt of the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire basilica, in the sanctuary of Lourdes, southwest France, during a ceremony for the Bishops’ Conference on November 6, 2021.
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Most of those who reached out to INIRR reported “very serious” crimes, she stressed, adding that 60% of those who received financial compensation had been raped once or multiple times. In 58% of cases, the abuse continued for more than a year. INIRR said in a report that they occurred in schools, at the abuser’s home, in catechism, youth organizations and other situations.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of France agreed to provide compensation after a 2021 report estimated that some 330,000 children had been sexually abused by priests or others belonging to the Church in France over 70 years. The estimates were based on extensive research on child sexual abuse by France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research.
The report described a “systemic” coverup by church officials and urged the French Catholic Church to respect the rule of law in France.
An INIRR approves financial compensation, with each case being referred to a special fund financed by the church for payment.
