A major investigation released on Tuesday found that French clergy sexually abused more than 200,000 children over the past 70 years, and its authors said the Catholic Church had turned a blind eye to the ‘scourge’ for too long.
Head of the commission that compiled the report, Jean-Marc Sauve said the church had shown “deep, total and even cruel indifference for years,” protecting itself rather than the victims of what was systemic abuse.
Most of the victims were boys, he said, many of them aged between 10 and 13.
