The report was commissioned by the French Bishops' Conference.

The CIASE report was wrong to impute the Church with systemic responsibility for sexual abuse, say media-leaked letters to the French Bishops' Conference president and the papal nuncio to France.

The letters were signed by eight Academy members including its president, Hugues Portelli.

At present the Academy has about 70 members.

The letters questioned some of the report's juridical and theological aspects.

They say the report (also known as the Sauvé report) is overly aggressive. They denounce "its methodological weaknesses" and "its sometimes hazardous analyses".

At the same time, they admit the report "was born of a courageous and justified approach" but its findings "can only serve to guide the action of the Church and its faithful.

"Some of them could be ruinous for the Church; others call into question (its) spiritual and sacred nature," the letters say. A big concern is the high number of alleged victims the report estimates.

A meeting at the Vatican for CIASE members to discuss the report had been scheduled for December 9, but has been postponed.

Sauvé says he was expecting attacks on the CIASE report, so isn't surprised to learn of the Academy members' letters.

"I sensed that they would be more precocious and very strong, in particular from traditionalist circles. It came from the Catholic Academy.

"The criticism of our report is of course legitimate. I wrote that in the introduction ... but I have feelings of sadness ... because I myself am a member of this Academy."

Sauvé says he thinks the letters' secrecy turns their effect into "a web of venomous attacks".

He is also concerned about the signatories' injunction to the Church to do nothing "either in terms of moral and compensatory reparation or in terms of modification of behavior or rules if the objective truth is not established".

This is particularly inappropriate in the view the Church has already taken and the modesty of the arguments put forth by these members of the Catholic Academy, he says.

"This is also an insult to the victims."

He says the letter-writers "have acted in accordance with the worst of a certain Catholic culture, that is to say, secretly, without contradictory debate and by going first to the authorities."

Sauvé says Portelli had invited him to present the CIASE report to Academylast month but withdrew the invitation "sine die, and without any real explanation, shortly after I said yes."

He thinks the aim was "to ensure that the Church is freed from having to make painful compensations and reforms that are necessary and profound."

There are the three victims of this view, he say: the Church - despite the bishops' courage in commissioning an independent report; the people who have been sexually assaulted; and the service of truth.

Sauvé has invited the Academy to undertake a study on sexual violence in our society and in the Catholic Church in particular.

Source

• La Croix
• Image: Dierso.com

Although the bishops say Dalle's "trial period has not been confirmed" she says she had "been fired".

Her dismissal follows various slip-ups in communications after the release of an independent report into sexual abuse in the Church in France between 1950 and 2020.

The news came only a few days after the conclusion of the French bishops' plenary assembly in Lourdes. This focused on ways to apply the recommendations made by the independent commission in October.

Dalle's short employment with the Conference began just before the "explosive" report from the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE) was released.

The spokeswoman had a solid reputation for managing various crisis situations. This, plus her clear-and-straightforward communication style saw her appointed to undertake the delicate mission of managing the French bishops' press communications when the report was released to the public. A furore was expected.

After accepting the report, which said priests who learn of abuse in Confession must report it to secular authorities, Conference head Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort fumbled badly.

He insisted the seal of the confessional was above the laws of France's secular republic.

The difficulty with this comment, however, is that while French law has always respected confessional secrecy, more recently radical imams have been insisting sharia trumps civil law. This has forced the secular state to reassert its primacy in legal affairs.

If Muslims have been called to order, Catholics had to be too.

Ideally, Dalle would have anticipated this political minefield and issued a bland statement letting the state avoid a confrontation with its majority faith.

Instead, Moulins-Beaufort trumpeted the supremacy of canon law over French law.

The interior minister became involved.

Afterwards, both sought to calm the waters and agreed the confessional seal would remain inviolable.

Dalle continued the already signed-off battle alone, defending the Church's position, complaining anti-clericals misunderstood the issue. She mentioned the media. Politicians could not but feel this also meant them.

In a series of tweets that were subsequently deleted, she contextualized the data and figures contained in the report.

She recalled, for example, that the 330,000 victims was only an estimate.

Responding to people who were ascribing these abuse cases to the celibacy of priests, she said over a third were committed by laypeople.

In his closing speech at the plenary, however, Moulins-Beaufort made it clear the Church accepted full responsibility for any abuse.

To date only 17 dioceses have signed protocols with local judicial authorities to report abuse priests learn of.

Since few cases come through Confession, priests can report other cases they think are serious. This is widely seen as a reasonable compromise both sides can live with.

The bishops' conference has recommended other dioceses adopt this policy.

Source

• National Catholic Register
• The Tablet
• Image: News in 24