in Orléans, seminarians trained to become modern priests

At the seminary of Orléans (Loiret), 42 students are learning to become a priest, while the Church is tainted by cases of pedophilia. “When there are stories that come out, we talk about them among seminarians. It is good to externalize that so that everyone feels concerned by it”, says François-Xavier Boulard, a seminarian who is entering his second year of training. For seven years, the seminarians are formed in community with superiors who watch over their emotional balance.

The revelation of sexual abuse in the Church with the publication of the Sauvé report created a particular climate. “Virtually all of them when they announced that they were returning to the seminary, the question they were asked was ‘oh, are you a pedophile?'”, says Laurent Tournier, rector of the Orléans seminary. He recalls that the report showed that 3% of priests are aggressors. Each week, a therapist meets the future priests.