“It is essential that, as a Church, we recognize and condemn with sorrow and shame the atrocities committed by consecrated persons, by members of the clergy, but also by all those who have the mission of caring for and protecting the most vulnerable.”
Pope Francis, Letter to the People of God – August 20, 2018
The revelation of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has rightly shocked public opinion and Christian communities. Preventing sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people is a major, central, and priority issue for the Church. In France, excellent groundwork has been carried out by the Independent Commission against Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE), which published its report on October 5, 2021, with a number of recommendations. See the link: final report
The Augustinians of the Assumption, in conjunction with the Conference of Religious Men and Women of France (CORREF) Emprise-et-abus; the Conference of Bishops of France luttercontrelapedophilie.catholique.fr, and the Commission for Recognition and Reparation reconnaissancereparation.org; have made a firm commitment:
- to combat sexual assault and abuse of power (see also Bayard’s commitments in this area)
- to work for restorative justice for victims of assault
- to set up training programs in this area for our religious (see the charter in this area, to which our religious are committed, which has been in place since 2008).
- to establish a charter of good pastoral practices (work in progress)
Reporting sexual assault
If you have been a victim or know someone who has been a victim of sexual assault by a member of the clergy, you can contact the following in complete confidentiality:
- Commission Reconnaissance et Réparation (CRR):
Contact : victimes@crr.contact
Tél : 09 73 88 25 71
Website : https://www.reconnaissancereparation.org
- Contact the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption (Assumptionists) directly by writing to the following address: ecouteabus@assomption.org
- You can also contact Corref (Conference of Religious Men and Women of France) by sending an email to: ecoutevictimes@corref.fr
Call for testimonials
Father Arthur HERVET, an Assumptionist priest (1938-2020), is known for his concern for the vulnerable, the poor, and the marginalized. He is the author of several books (“La péniche du Bon Dieu” [God’s Barge], “Ma vérité sur l’exclusion” [My Truth About Exclusion]) in which he recounts his commitment to helping those excluded from our societies. He worked in several places, notably in Cachan, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, and Lille, always striving to combat poverty.
Since his death in 2020, two people have come forward to the Assumptionists to report incidents of sexual abuse. These individuals, who were adults at the time of the incidents, testified before the Recognition and Reparation Commission of CORREF (Conference of Religious Men and Women of France) and were recognized as victims. The Assumptionist congregation, in an effort to establish the truth about one of its members, began several months ago to collect testimonies from people who knew Father Arthur HERVET.
To enable further identification of potential victims, the congregation is asking anyone who may have important information to contact the congregation’s “Écoute-abus” (abuse helpline) unit.
Email contact : ecouteabus@assomption.org
CRR contact : reconnaissancereparation.org