Ten victims report abuse in the church
Published: Thursday, Jan 25th 2024, 15:41
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Ten victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have come forward to an independent external auditing company in Valais over the past three months. This audit was commissioned by the diocese of Sion at the beginning of November.
To date, the diocese is aware of these cases. This is stated in an interim report by the auditing company, which the Diocese of Sion announced in a press release on Thursday.
The people concerned were able to report on the suffering they had experienced in complete freedom and each in their own way. It is still too early to draw definitive conclusions. But it seems very clear that the victims' need for recognition and their various expectations of the Church - in terms of proactivity, communication and transparency - were far from being fully met, the report continues.
Further statements from victims
Since the investigation was initiated, the diocese has received several statements from victims, as the communiqué goes on to say. In particular, it is calling on victims of two alleged perpetrators to come forward.
One case involves a vicar of a parish in Sion who died in 1977. The priest was of French descent and is said to have abused several children over a number of years. The other case concerned a priest who worked for 48 years in a parish in the French-speaking part of the diocese and died in 1983. He is said to have abused several people, adults and children.
According to a study conducted by the University of Zurich last year, there have been at least 1002 cases of sexual abuse in Switzerland since the middle of the 20th century. According to the researchers, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as most cases were not reported or the documents were destroyed.
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