Posted
Saturday, November 6, bishops performed a mass of repentance in Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées) and recognize the responsibility of the Church in this sexual violence, several weeks infter the publication of the Sauvé report on child crime within the Catholic Church in France.
The publication of the Sauvé report revealed the numerous pedophile acts within the Church. Saturday, November 6, in Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées), many bishops knelt down to ask forgiveness from God. Reunited with believers in a symbolic city, they performed a mass of repentance. Bishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops’ Conference, sent a message to the victims. “It is too late for us to wipe away your tears, it is not for us to remember you”, did he declare.
In the city of Lourdes, many victims were present on Saturday, as in Paris. Many of them are now asking for compensation for what they have suffered and the consequences it has had on their lives. Victim and member of the collective “From words to actions”, François Devaux believes that Pope Francis “must initiate the whole process of reform of governance, of position on sexuality”. At the end of the Bishops’ Conference on Monday, November 8, decisions could be announced, including compensation for victims, expected by many of them.