French report on Catholic abuse of minors is explosive. After this report about clergy abuse in France, it might be tempting to try to blame French Catholic leaders in particular. But this is not just a French issue.
They have learned something new and disturbing about France: The Roman Catholic Church has likely abused more than 300,000 French kids since 1950. That’s an average of one child every two hours for 70 years. That’s a staggering rate of abuse, only possible when there’s an institution willing to cover up their crimes.
History has taught us that only one human invention tends to cook up this cauldron of toxic factors: religion.
Religious indoctrination includes teaching children that church officials are morally superior and directly connected to the divine. This is combined with religious dogma that stigmatizes human sexuality and demonizes homosexuality in particular, casting shame on any kids who even mention the topic beyond married opposite-sex couples making babies. This dangerous miseducation allows abusers to manipulate their victims into staying quiet, or even blaming themselves for the abuse, while parents are lulled into a false sense of security because they, too, tend to view clergy as inherently trustworthy.
Clergy child sex abuse is not a uniquely Catholic problem, but the Catholic Church has proven to be remarkably unwilling to change its ways, even after its institutional cover-ups become public knowledge over and over again. The Church is complicit in the abuse, and it’s not going to fix itself anytime soon.
FFRF: French report on Catholic abuse of minors is explosive - Freedom From Religion Foundation
These young victims were brave enough to come forward, but before this type of behavior in the church was widely known or heard about, they were shamed and called liars in front of their family and communities. Imagine how bad it must have felt for the victim, being degraded in front of their families and friends, that and to have been abuse too, devout parents probably believed the priest over their own child. So sad.
This behavior has been documented too, from the murder of Indigenous children in Canada to 300,000 just in France, and to be condoned by church leaders, yet people still send their children there... and they still have the gall to lecture the rest of us on morality.