On Tuesday October 5th a report revealed the shocking scale of child sex abuse inside the French Catholic Church over many decades. The report's authors estimate that 330,000 minors have been the victims of sexual abuse within the church since 1950, a majority of them at the hands of ordained clergy. Since the report's publication the overall reaction from the political classes, both Left and Right, has seemed timid. Some politicians, however, are calling for the courts to intervene and for the church to undergo deep reform. Mathieu Dejean, Mathilde Goanec, Pauline Graulle and Ilyes Ramdani report.
The issue was not raised during the weekly session of questions to the government in the National Assembly. There was just a brief passing reaction from President Emmanuel Macron during a trip to Slovenia, in which he hoped that work on the issue could “proceed clearly and calmly”. And the responses from candidates for next year's presidential election were minimal.
