Sexual violence in the Church: seven victims raise their demands before meeting the Pope in Lourdes

The seven victims of sexual violence in the Church who will meet Pope Leo

"Dialogue does not mean condoning. Being received does not mean renouncing our demands", assures the press release, while the announcement of this meeting sparked the start of controversy, certain collectives not received regretting the limited format of the meeting and the opacity of the selection of interlocutors by the Church.

“We do not constitute a delegation of the Church and we do not claim to represent all the victims, nor those who will not be present in Lourdes”, add the signatories, who assure that “everyone participates in this meeting in their own name, free of their words, their convictions and their choices”. Five of these participants reveal their identities: Jean-Marie Delbos (victim of the Catholic establishment of Bétharram), Véronique Garnier (Faith and Resilience collective), Jérôme Guillement (victim of a Vendée priest), Olivier Mardi (co-founder of Voix Libérés de Touraine, victim of Father Tartu), and Bertrand Virieux (co-founder of the former Lyon association La Parole Libération on the affair Preynat/Barbarin).

Two participants preferred to remain anonymous, including a victim of Abbé Pierre, the press release said, stressing that "this choice, like everyone's freedom of speech, must be fully respected." Before this private meeting which "constitutes a particularly important moment", the participants, who thank the Pope, held a first preparatory meeting on Monday with representatives of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) and the Conference of Religious Men and Women of France (Corref), and in the presence of the Bishop of Amiens, Mgr Gérard Le Stang.

This meeting made it possible to "share the fundamental questions" that the seven victims wish to share with the Pope, despite differences that "we wish to respect", adds the press release. Claiming to be "already in great demand by the media", the signatories nevertheless warn that they will no longer communicate ahead of the meeting and are now devoting themselves to its preparation. “None of us will give an interview or make a statement before the meeting”, even if “we will be available to testify afterwards”, “each with their voice, their story and what they wish to share”, they add.