Eleven current or former bishops “have been accused” of sexual abuse, the president of the French Episcopal Conference (CEF), Eric de Moulin-Beaufort, said on Monday, as quoted by AFP.

• “Now there are six cases of bishops who were accused in the courts of our country or in canonical courts (Church law – no.
• The other two, who are no longer in office, are the subject of judicial investigations following the bishop’s reports and canonical proceedings. The third is the subject of a communication to the prosecutor, to which no response has yet been given, and he received measures from the Holy See to limit his ministry,” Eric de Moulin-Beaufort said, Agerpres writes, citing AFP.

Cardinal (Jean-Pierre) Ricard, the former bishop of Bordeaux, is also a target, he said. He recognized the “reprehensible” behavior of a 14-year-old minor 35 years ago, added the president of the French Bishops’ Conference.

Also included is Monsignor Michel Santier, who was convicted by Vatican authorities in 2021 of “spiritual abuse leading to voyeurism against two adult men” in the 1990s, and whose silence on his sanctions in recent weeks has sparked intense anger among Catholics and the victim.

Without going into details, Eric de Moulin-Beaufort insisted on “a great variety of situations, actions committed or accusations.”

120 members of the Episcopal Conference of France gathered from Thursday in Lourdes for the autumn plenary session. They aim, among other things, to work on “concrete proposals” to improve communication and transparency of canonical measures (Church law) taken against clerics accused of sexual abuse.

Pope Francis: We are doing everything possible to fight pedocrime in the Church

“We are doing everything possible” to fight pedocrime in the Church, Pope Francis assured on Sunday, who at the same time expressed regret that some people in the institution “still do not see clearly”, writes AFP.

• “For a priest, (sexual) violence contradicts his priestly and social nature. That is why it is a tragic thing and we must not stop” to fight this disaster, the Pope said during a press conference on the plane as he returned from a visit to Bahrain.
• “We are doing our best, but inside the Church there are people who do not see clearly yet (…) This is a constant process that we carry out with courage, and not everyone has such courage,” he added.
• “Some things were hidden, before the Boston scandal we changed people (we moved priests – no). Now everything is clear and we are moving forward on this topic,” he added, referring to a series of revelations in the early 2000s in the United States.

Despite the “temptation of compromise”, “the desire of the Church is to clarify everything”, he also assured, clarifying that “the Church should be ashamed of the bad, at the same time thank God for the good that it has done”. “.

Pope Francis made such comments in response to a question about the possibility of making canonical sanctions public for greater transparency.