Church officials have been under intense pressure to identify and compensate victims after a landmark French inquiry confirmed extensive abuse of minors by priests, deacons and lay members of the Church dating from the 1950s. The Church has actually followed through on its commitment,” the president of the Selam fund, Gilles Vermot-Desroches, informed AFP after its board met on Monday.An initial five million euros will be set aside for payment claims being studied by an independent panel set up in the wake of the damning abuse report, launched in October.It found that 216,000 minors had been abused by clergy over the past 7 decades, a number that climbed to 330,000 when claims against ordinary members of the Church are consisted of, such as instructors at Catholic schools.The commission that produced the report knocked the “systemic character” of efforts to protect clergy from prosecution, and prompted the Church to pay victims with its own assets, rather of asking parishioners to contribute.Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, head of the Bishops Conference of France (CEF), has stated the Church will sell off genuine estate and tap its monetary holdings, and potentially take out bank loans to raise the money.But it has also informed parishioners they can make donations to the fund.Vermot-Desroches did not provide an in-depth breakdown of the source of the preliminary 20 million euros, however stated the CEF, private bishops and the “huge bulk” of dioceses throughout France contributed.Victims associations have actually required payment payments that would cost the Church tens of millions of euros.Widespread cases of sexual abuse in the Church worldwide have ended up being one of the most significant difficulties for Pope Francis, who expressed his “shame” after the French inquiry was launched.
Catholic dioceses in France have raised 20 million euros ($ 22.6 million) to compensate thousands of victims of historic child sexual abuse by clergy, the fund in charge of raising the cash stated Tuesday.
Released on: 26/01/2022 – 08:01 Modified: 26/01/2022 – 08:03
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