French victims of clerical abuse hope Pope's visit can deepen Church reform
LOCTUDY, France, Sept 22 - Ghislaine Magoarou, 65, was 9 years old when her teacher, Brother Gabriel Girard, pulled shut the curtains of their classroom in a fishing town in northwest France and raped her.
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teacher → hope → her
That incident marked the start of a months-long cycle of abuse at the now-shuttered Catholic school that eventually led Magoarou to attempt suicide by throwing herself into the sea.
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that → mark → sea
"I had gone swimming with friends and simply let myself sink," Magoarou recalled during a walk along the beach in Loctudy with three other survivors.
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Magoarou → go → survivors
"I let the waves carry me away, and I had absolutely no desire to come back up.
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I → let → desire
I felt at peace in the water, as if I were being cleansed.
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I → feel → water
Magoarou is one of at least 330,000 French minors who were abused between 1950 and 2020 by priests, religious figures, or laypeople working in Church institutions.
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who → abuse → institutions
Those figures were revealed in a landmark 2021 report that found France's Catholic Church had ignored the issue for far too long.
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Church → reveal → issue
Pope Leo will seek to redress some of that harm during a visit to France, when he will meet next Sunday with seven victims of Church sexual abuse in Lourdes, some of those involved said in a press release.
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some → seek → release
During a visit to Spain in June, in which he met Spanish survivors of clerical abuse, Leo told bishops they must listen to survivors and offer them reparations.
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they → meet → reparations
In meeting with survivors, Leo is carrying on the work of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
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Leo → meet → predecessor
He took steps to address clerical abuse, although some groups have criticised them as insufficient.
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groups → take → them
Girard abused an estimated 50 to 70, 8-to-9-year-olds at the school in Loctudy, a pretty seaside town in Brittany, from 1969 until 1972.
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Girard → abuse → 1972
Survivors recounted how he would summon a child to the front of the class and abuse them while ordering the rest of the class to keep their heads down.
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he → recount → heads
He died in 1979, by which time he had assaulted an estimated 170 children across France, without ever facing justice.
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he → die → justice
The Frères de Saint-Gabriel, the religious congregation that operated the school, did not respond to a request for comment.
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that → operate → comment
It has previously recognised and condemned all acts of physical and sexual abuse committed by its members, including Girard.
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It → recognise → Girard
HOPES FOR LASTING CHANGE
Magoarou, who met Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2023, said she could "almost forgive" Girard as "there was something wrong with him", but still struggled to understand the other adults who had enabled or turned a blind eye to his actions.
Fellow survivor Michèle Le Reun-Gaigné said her life was ruined by Girard's abuse, leading to her dropping out of school and losing faith in adults.
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her → last → adults
Still, she remained optimistic that she and others like her could help engender a change in how the Church handles such cases.
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Church → remain → cases
"Change won't happen overnight; we might not even live to see it," she said.
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she → happen → it
"But what we are trying to do, in our own modest way, is to lay down small stepping stones to try and improve things, especially for future generations."
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trying → try → generations
Alain Esquerre, 66, a spokesperson for victims at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram Catholic institution, said he wanted a genuine mea culpa from the Pope and the Church.
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he → say → Pope
"I believe Leo bears the immense responsibility of 'declaring enough is enough' - of putting a stop to this so that children across the globe will no longer be raped by priests," he said.
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he → believe → priests
The 2021 report by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church led to the creation of the Independent National Body for Recognition and Reparation (INIRR), which offers compensation of up to €60,000 for victims of abuse.
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which → lead → abuse
Over five years, 1,969 victims contacted INIRR, according to INIRR President Marie Derain de Vaucresson.
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victims → contact → Vaucresson
Both Magoarou and Le Reun-Gaigné were among those who received a payout.
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who → receive → payout
The French Bishops' Conference says the INIRR will cease operations on October 1, after which previously undeclared victims will have to contact local parishes to seek compensation, recognition and support.
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victims → say → compensation
The Bishops' Conference has described the new system, in which victims' first point of contact would be the local parish, as a continuation of its efforts to compensate people who have been abused.
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who → describe → people
Ampaseo, a victims' association, said the new scheme lacks the independence and judicial oversight that made the previous system a success.
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system → say → independence
"How could victims entrust their journey to an institution that failed in its duty of protection?" it said in a statement.
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it → entrust → statement
Véronique Margron, 68, a Dominican theologian who has supported many victims of clerical abuse, said she hoped Leo would mandate obligatory processes across the entire Church to aid victims in speaking out, adding that highlighting abuse was particularly difficult in Africa or India.
"All victim advocacy groups say - and rightly so - that not enough is being done," she said.
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she → support → Africa
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