“Breaking the silence: let’s talk about it!” The message of the poster campaign on the doors of churches, launched by the diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne, aims to encourage victims of child crime to speak out.
–
“Breaking the silence: let’s talk about it!” The message of the poster campaign on the doors of churches, launched by the diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne, is unambiguous: encourage victims of child crime to get rid of their trauma by trusting.
Since this Easter weekend, 200 posters have been displayed on the doors of churches in Aude.
So that the mission of the Church within our dicocese is respectful of minors and vulnerable people, so that they are protected against any abuse and any violence, since sexual abuse of minors and of vulnerable persons is intolerable acts against which we must fight.
A listening cell
The aim is to encourage the victims of pedophilia crimes to speak out within the Catholic Church. In Aude, a listening cell was created 4 years ago. It is composed of doctor, pediatrician, magistrate and lawyer, but to date only one person has benefited from it. The diocese therefore decided to reactivate the device.
In recent years, the bishops have learned to work with the victims and now we are ready to welcome these people who still carry their suffering. We will support them with the help of professionals. It is with listening, dialogue and justice that we will achieve this.
In Aude, the two authors of known facts are both deceased.
It was also decided to send a Letter from the Bishops of France to Catholics on the fight against pedophilia in order to explain their measures and to engage all of them in this process of recognition, vigilance and support for victims.
A national system
This campaign was decided at the end of the Plenary Assembly of the Bishops of France in March 2021, with a conference on the system for the fight against pedophilia. Following this plenary assembly, the bishops of France decided on a mechanism to “recognize the suffering of victims” of child crime in the Church.
With 4 essential points: the work of memory with the victims, a financial dimension, the prevention of pedophile acts and, finally, the follow-up of the guilty priests.
Our device in Carcassonne will take care of the victims. But the Church also wants to deal with the perpetrators. This is the big question for the perpetrators: once they have been convicted and served their sentence, what do we do with it? What place within the Church? We are also ready to help anyone who feels such impulses in them.
In Paris, a website
The diocese of Paris has developed and put online the site “Protect childhood“, which lists many tools for children, adolescents and adults with the objective of fighting” by preventing child crime “.
It consists of three main parts:
– “raise awareness” with the help of short videos adapted to each population
– “act” for example to help report any worrying fact to the police or to invite to call 119
– “deepen”, which offers testimonies of victims and associations, data, reports and a telephone number open to “people with pedophile impulses and seeking help”: 119.
It has set itself the goal of reaching out to all citizens, regardless of their situation or religion.
To contact the Aude listening cell: [email protected]
–
