France says there have been 216, 000 victims since 1950

Olivier Savignac, president of Parler and Revivre Association who was sexually abused at the age of 13 by a priest who has since been found guilty by a court, poses during an interview with Reuters in Paris, France on October 4, 2021. REUTERS Noemie Olive Olive

PARIS, Oct 4 Reuters - A report on sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergymen in France is poised to say there have been an estimated 216,000 victims since 1950, a survivor who contributed to the dossier said ahead of its publication on Tuesday.

An Independent Commission has spent more than 2 - 1 2 years investigating sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in the country over the past seven decades. It is set to present its findings at 9 a.m. 0700 GMT In the run-up to the release of its findings, Commission head Jean-Marc Sauve called 3,000 paedophile priests and clerics abused minors over the period, and said that number was a conservative estimate Having been sexually abused by a priest in 1993, Olivier Savignac has contributed to the report as a victims representative and has seen large parts of the document. He said victims ought to be properly compensated.

We can see how systemic it was with an estimated number of 216,000 victims, said Savignac to Reuters, quoting the report and adding that the Church could not have ignored something of that magnitude.

It's an earthquake, a hurricane, a tsunami when you see these numbers, it's so damning that no one can stay in denial whether the Catholic Church or society as a whole, said Savignac, who has also set up a victims association Parler et Revivre speak and live again. Reuters had not been given access to the report before its publication and could not independently verify its content. An spokesperson from the Church said they would not comment before it is published. The independent commission could not be reached for comment.

A Vatican spokesperson said at the weekend that it would wait for the full report to be published before deciding on whether to comment.

The commission was founded by Catholic bishops in France at the end of 2018 to restore public confidence in the Church to shed light on abuses and shed light on dwindling congregations. It has worked independently from the Church.

The man who abuse Savignac when he was a teenager was found guilty in France two years ago, but that is an exception, he said, stressing how hard it is for young Catholics to speak up and accuse representatives of the Church.

What we expect from the Church is an answer to the level of what people have suffered, Savignac said, and that can't be throwing a few thousand euros at it and saying it's behind us. No, there is a need for proper compensation to the level of what each person suffered. The French Church announced in March it would propose some financial aid to victims.

The scandal in the Roman Catholic Church is the latest to hit the French Church, which has been rocked over the past 20 years by sexual abuse scandals around the world, often involving children.

The French Catholic Church declared in June that the AIDS crisis was a worldwide catastrophe. Pope Francis posted a prayer on its official Twitter account on Sunday, on behalf of victims.

Dear Lord, we entrust to you all those victims of violence and sexual assaults in the Church. The ministry said on its Twitter account that we will always be able to count on you support and help during these ordeals.

Since his election in 2013, Francis has taken a series of steps aimed at wiping out sexual abuse of minors by clerics.

In this year, he presented the most extensive revision of Catholic Church law in four decades, insisting that bishops take action against clerics who abuse minors and vulnerable adults. Critics said that he has not done enough.