The Church is rocked by a new sexual abuse scandal. The dioceses of Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Grenoble announced last Thursday that they had identified a series of sexual assaults on minors committed in the years 1970-1980 by a priest who died twenty-eight years ago, known for his frescoes in churches. of the region. “Several people contacted the diocese of Lyon, the diocese of Grenoble-Vienne and the diocese of Saint-Etienne to reveal that they or their relatives had been sexually assaulted by Father Louis Ribes, who died in 1994”, read a joint statement dated January 13 and published on their Internet portals.
“We became certain, last October, of the veracity of the facts. The leaders of the dioceses express to the victims of Father Ribes their deep compassion, their shame that a priest could have committed such acts. »
“The number of victims is in the tens”
The Archbishop of Lyon said on Wednesday January 19 that the victims of Father Ribes would be “very many”. The work of the Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (Ciase) and the call for witnesses launched by the dioceses, which began “to bear fruit”, “let us think that the victims are, unfortunately, certainly very numerous”, told the press Mgr Olivier de Germay. “It is difficult to give a precise figure”, he however indicated, because “The numbers are changing day by day”.
The facts, now prescribed, could be confirmed thanks to the help of investigators from Ciase, adds the Lyon diocese, already affected in recent years by the resounding cases Preynat and Barbarin, former archbishop of Lyon who resigned.
At a public meeting on Tuesday evening in Grammond, in the Loire, where the priest was from and where he often returned, “a dozen people came” so “declared victims”, among ” a man [qui] testified, for the first time” of his sufferings. “The total number of victims is probably in the tens”, said Hervé Hostein, director of communication for the diocese of Saint-Etienne.
The Bishop of Saint-Etienne, Mgr Sylvain Bataille, participated in this meeting which brought together around sixty people, and during which he would have become aware of the extent of the facts, according to his entourage. “I am personally appalled by the perversity of this priest who abused the innocence of so many children and deeply upset by the suffering of these victims”, assured M.gr de Germay, while emphasizing that “heart of this drama (…) the positive is that more and more people are able to speak”.
“Both in the Church (…), villages and family, some people had seen absolutely nothing, and others had felt (…) that there were things that were not very clear”, he remarked again. “These kinds of rumors existed, but it was the culture of the time”, that of “silence, denial” and “it did not go up to the level of the hierarchy”. A report had however been made by the daughter of a victim to the diocese of Grenoble “in 2016”. This one had us “contacted”, corn “we had nothing in his file”. However, the facts were confirmed thanks to the assistance of Ciase investigators. “We lack a little coordination between dioceses”, acknowledged M.gr of Germany.
The Church has decided to remove the works of Father Ribes
Father Ribes was known for his frescoes and stained glass in churches in the region. The exhibition of these works in a colorful style close to cubism, some of which are protected as historical monuments, being ” insupportable “ for the victims, the Church has decided to have them removed, which began on Tuesday, especially since “some were inspired by the children he posed naked”. About seventy works have been listed, eighteen of which belong to the dioceses. For the stained glass windows in the churches belonging to the municipalities, it is up to the mayors “returns the decision”, but the archdiocese wants it withdrawn, added the archbishop of Lyon.
The mayor of Grammond, Patrice Carteron, explained that he did not initially wish to “rush” to remove the two frescoes adorning the church, but “Given the pain expressed by the victims on Tuesday, we will do this by thinking with the parish what to replace them with”. The announcement was made by Mr.gr Battle, according to Mr. Hostein. Father Ribes was coming ” spend his vacation “ in this town in the Monts du Lyonnais, “inviting young people from the sector to participate in its artistic work”, according to Mr. Carteron.
In their press release, the dioceses invite the victims to make themselves known to the listening cells of the dioceses, with the possibility of meeting if they wish. The recent Ciase report on child crime in the Church of France since the 1950s estimates that 330,000 people were victims of sexual violence when they were minors, by religious or people linked to the Church. .