“Well-kept secrets between bishops or in the hierarchy of the Church”estimated Monday, November 7 on franceinfo Olivier Savignac, member of the association Parler et revivre, victim of sexual abuse by a priest in 1993. Eleven bishops or former bishops were “in question” in civil or Church justice for reports of sexual violence.
franceifno: Are you surprised by these new accusations?
Olivier Savignac: It’s amazing, we thought that the delivery of the Ciase report [Commission indépendante sur les abus sexuels dans l’Église] was the climax and there we again find ourselves with astounding revelations about 11 bishops, one of whom is a cardinal and also the former president of the bishops of France.
What surprises you the most?
The number of bishops and especially the silence around these 11 cases. Even we didn’t know anything about that. This means that they were well-kept secrets between the bishops or in the hierarchy of the Church. There, you can ask a lot of questions.
“We felt that there are cases that would come out and that they would undoubtedly concern bishops, but we did not think about that and it is not over.”
Olivier Savignac, association Talking and revivingat franceinfo
Is it also because they have a more important position in the hierarchy of the Church that the cases which concern them take longer to be discovered?
Sure. The bishops are on a pedestal, they are admired people who are rather seen from below. It is a showcase for the Church. A bishop who commits this type of act is to dent even more the window of the Church. We see so many scandals around priests and religious that it almost begins to become commonplace, but bishops are all the same heads of the Church who are falling.
The clean hand operation is far from going all the way. These revelations come after the shock of the Santier affair, this bishop of Créteil, who for a month has shaken the Catholic Church. The leaders of the Church finally decide to record transparency when it should have been recorded as soon as the Ciase report was submitted last year. We were waiting for zero tolerance, promised since 2005. It happens today because the Church is up against the wall.
Is there still a long way to go?
Without putting pressure we can’t do it. It is not normal. The Church is the institution of morality, of salvation, which normally must protect the little ones. But in fact, she becomes demonic. Without pressure, without business, which can tip one head or another, there is no progress.