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Miscellaneous -2

 

FRENCH BISHOPS ADDRESS SCANDAL OF PEDOPHILIA
Condemn Crime, But Say That All Priests Should Not be Discredited

PARIS, NOV. 14, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- Priests are not exempt from the scandal
of pedophilia, the French bishops acknowledged, but they insisted that the
crimes of a few should not discredit all clergy.

That was among the conclusions of the plenary assembly of the country's
bishops meeting in Lourdes last week.

Following a debate on a report on pedophilia, the bishops in a statement
said that "the Church is not exempt from a reality whose whole complexity
she is discovering."

"When the aggressor is a priest, there is a double betrayal" against the
minor who is abused and against the Gospel, the bishops said in condemning
the crime of child sexual abuse. They expressed their "solidarity with the
victims and their families."

An offending priest must answer to civil justice and the Church, the
bishops said. They added, however, that he is "a person who has the right
to our respect, our support and our prayer."

They also appealed against the establishment of "a climate of generalized
and unjustified mistrust. The crimes committed by a few, must not cast
discredit on all," their statement says.

In the closing address of the plenary assembly Nov. 10, Archbishop
Louis-Marie Billé of Lyon, president of the Episcopal Conference, also
focused on world peace, globalization of solidarity, and Europe.

"When we proclaim the Gospel to those who are geographically closest to us,
we cannot do so without keeping current events in mind," Archbishop Billé
said. Thus he added the voice of the French bishops in appealing for the
renewal of Mideast peace talks.
ZE00111405

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