Nearly 1,600 victims of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have approached the National Independent Instance for Recognition and Reparation (Inirr) since 2022, according to a report unveiled on Tuesday.
"As of March 24, 1,580 people have approached the organisation, and 1,235 are now being taken into account," according to Inirr president Marie Derain de Vaucresson who presented the three-year activity report to the media.
Derain de Vaucresson said that on average, Inirr is approached by 10 people per month, with a peak earlier this year.
"This is obviously a consequence of media coverage surrounding sexual violence in the church related to the Betharram affair and the revelations about Abbé Pierre last summer," she added.
Shaken
According to Derian de Vaucresson, of the 50 or so requests made since the beginning of this year, the average age of those who contact the organisation with complaints of abuse is 56, meaning that they are "victims from the 70s, 80s, and 90s."
At a time when Catholic education is shaken by the Betharram affair, the Inirr faced a similar "peak in requests" in February 2024, when details of this Catholic establishment in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques first came to light.
The Inirr, which aims to help victims within dioceses, was founded in 2021 by the French episcopate in the wake of the 353 page Ciase report on child sexual abuse in the church. It coincided with the creation of the Recognition and Reparation Commission (CRR,) set up for victims in congregations.
(With newsagencies)
