Last week, the weekly Christian Family revealed that the former bishop of Créteil, in the Paris region, had committed acts of voyeurism on two adult men in the 1990s. Since then, other victims have come forward. Friday, October 21, the conference of bishops of France considered that the Vatican should communicate better on the sanctions.
Michel Santier, former bishop of Créteil, was sentenced in November 2021 by the Vatican just before his retirement. In question, “ spiritual abuse leading to voyeurism on two adult men in the 1990s, when he was a priest in Coutances in the Manche department and director of the School of Faith, a prayer training school for young adults. It was in 2019 that the victims reported the facts and that the latter presented his resignation prematurely the same year.
Since this revelation made by the magazine Christian Family a week ago, other victims would have appeared, according to the Archbishop of Rouen, Mgr Dominique Lebrun. The latter specifies that he has sent a report to Rome and ensures that the public prosecutor is also informed. For its part, the conference of bishops of France recognizes a lack of communication from Rome after the sanctions taken against Michel Santier. The president of the conference, Bishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, advocates greater clarity on canonical procedures and the measures that can result from them.
A plenary assembly in Lourdes in November
“ I also hear and receive the criticisms formulated around the lack of communication of the Roman measures when they were enacted wrote Bishop de Moulins-Beaufort. I also hear the request for greater clarity on these canonical procedures and the measures that can result from them. […]. We need to think about changes in our procedures, in the way we conduct them and communicate the results “, he concludes.
The bishops, he assures us, will work on the changes to be made in the procedures and the way of communicating the results during the plenary assembly of their conference, in November, in Lourdes. A working group set up at the end of 2021 on good practices in the face of complaints must also make recommendations. All of these reflections and proposals will then be transmitted to Rome, according to Bishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort.
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(with AFP)