In a letter, the Conference of Bishops of France denounces “serious facts” which occurred in Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram.
The Betharram affair shakes France from a political point of view, with the issues that this case has for François Bayrou, from a human point of view, with the compassion that the many testimonies of the victims provoke (always presumed in the eyes of justice), but also from a religious point of view. Indeed, the school depends on the Catholic Church, which reacted to these numerous revelations. In a press release published Thursday, February 20, the Conference of Bishops of France assures that these “serious facts” which were denounced, that is to say acts of physical violence and sexual abuse on minors, are “in contradiction total with the spirit of Catholic education “. She claims to want that “silence is lifted on all the facts of violence, sexual assault or any mistreating disciplinary practice”, also wanting to “express her emotion and her proximity to the people who have been victims and to thank those who find the courage to speak “. As of January 31, twenty former students had filed a complaint with justice, and more than 130 testified to the association of victims of Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram.
What about Catholic education today?
However, the Conference of Bishops of France does not turn its back on Catholic schools. She says she regrets that “the planned controls and various inspections which took place, both from national education and that of the structures of Catholic education, over a period of more than 50 years, did not allow To bring to light the unspeakable reality suffered by children schooling within this establishment “. While affirming “her confidence in Catholic, diocesan or congregationist education establishments”, she “calls for a major child protection plan, applying to all places of education, public or private” and affirms that she “will participate with all her strength, in the line of work which she has undertaken since the establishment of the CIASse (independent commission on abuse in the church) in 2018”.