French report: 330,000 children victims of church sex abuse

By SYLVIE CORBET
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Victims of sex abuse within France’s Catholic Church welcome a historic turning point after report released Tuesday revealed that an estimated 330,000 children were sexually abused over the past 70 years. It provides the country’s first accounting of the worldwide phenomenon. The head of France’s Catholic bishops conference is asking the victims for forgiveness. The groundbreaking report found that 3,000 priests as well as other people involved in the church committed abuse that Catholic authorities covered up over decades. Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort said the conclusions of the report and the numbers of victims appalled the Conference of Bishops of France. The independent commission that compiled the report urged compensation for victims and strong action from the church.