“It’s a hangover,” warns Charlotte (les prénoms ont été changés), committed to supporting people who are victims of sexual violence in the Church. “A big slap in our face,” supports Joanna. The day after the announcement by the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) of the Renaître system, which will take over from the Independent National Recognition and Reparation Authority (Inirr), the reactions are virulent.
Joanna finds it difficult to talk about it, as her anger takes over. Attacked by two priests between the ages of 10 and 15, she is one of those people who have been involved in the subject for many years, even before the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (Ciase), and she has worked a lot with the bishops. She has the feeling that they have chosen to draw a line under the Inirr, which “Was not perfect, but was able to correct a certain number of youthful mistakes.” She explains: “For us, victims, it is a permanent way of the cross. But on this path, the Inirr had become an important step. We have the feeling that everything that has been worked for, everything that has been a source of recovery and hope, is being undermined.”
