About 3,000 pedophiles have served in the ranks of the French Catholic Church over the past 70 years, the head of an independent commission Jean-Marc Sauve probing the sex abuse scandal has said.
Sauve’s revelation is the latest scandal to hit the Roman Catholic Church, which has been rocked by sexual abuse scandals around the world, often involving children, over the past 20 years.
The French commission is due to publish its findings tomorrow, marking the culmination of 2-1/2 years of work, probing allegations of abuse going back to the 1950s.
“We have estimated the number (of pedophiles) as standing at 3,000, out of 115,000 priests and religious officials, going back to the 1950s,” the commission head told the Journal du Dimanche paper.
A Vatican spokesperson said it would wait for the full report to be published before deciding on whether to comment.
In June, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis was a worldwide “catastrophe”.
The French Catholic Church posted a prayer on its official Twitter account yesterday, on behalf of victims, and added it would also hold a prayer on Oct. 5 – the day of the publication of the report.
“Dear Lord – we entrust to you all those who have been victims of violence and sexual attacks in the Church. We pray that we will always be able to count on your support and help during these ordeals,” it wrote on its Twitter account.
