French diocese in spotlight as former nun's abuse testimony is cancelled

Bishop accused of 'muzzling' victim but he says she is 'very fragile' to give a reliable account

The testimony of Caroline, a former nun and victim of an indecent assault by a cleric 30 years ago, is causing a stir in the Diocese of Limoges. (Photo by watman - stock.adobe.com)

The testimony of a former nun who was due to tell the story of her sexual assault at the hands of a priest in the French city of Limoges has been cancelled.

The Catholic Association of Women (ACF) and the victim refused to accept the presence of a member of the diocese to give the other side of the story, as had been demanded by Bishop Pierre-Antoine Bozo of Limoges.

Can freedom of expression within the Church flourish in all contexts?

The institution is working to give a rightful place to the words of victims of sexual abuse but the bishop was overcome by his concern for a just outcome when he learned that Caroline, a former nun allegedly assaulted by a priest from the Community of the Beatitudes, was about to give her testimony in public.

The cleric's indecent touching, which was the woman's second such trauma following a first attack during adolescence, took place during a confession 30 years ago, near the city of Blois. But it was in the Diocese of Limoges, where she lives today, that she decided to speak.

Caroline, who first revealed her story a year ago, was initially scheduled to speak at the end of September, during the back-to-school day of the Catholic Association of Women of Haute-Vienne.

But upon learning, on Sept. 1, of this public meeting, the Bishop of Limoges urged that her testimony be followed by a speech given directly in front of her offering an explanation from the priest's point of view.

He made it clear that it was on this condition alone that he would authorize the ACF of Limoges, which organized the meeting within the diocesan house, to hold it on the premises lent by the bishopric.

The association, like the victim, was deeply upset by this and refused this new arrangement. The reading of her testimony was therefore cancelled indefinitely.

'A too-dark vision of the institution'

"The Bishop of Limoges proposed that a priest from the Beatitudes be placed in front of Caroline," said a surprised member of the association.

"We cannot expect a victim to experience such a confrontation after we had offered to share her story, in all its subjectivity."

The local media took over the case, with one TV station, France 3 Limousin, broadcasting a report on Sept. 1, suggesting that the diocese would have wanted to "muzzle" the words of a sexual abuse victim.

"Under no circumstances," insisted the bishop who, when questioned by La Croix, unambiguously declared that he both believed Caroline and supported her at this stressful time.

"But she is a woman who is too wounded, who has a too-black vision of the institution, to be fair in her remarks," Bishop Bozo argued, to justify his position.

He describes the former nun as "very fragile" with an "aggressive and virulent" tone.

"Through her wild resentment against the Church as a whole, her testimony risks leaving the faithful and the public with more questions than answers, and perhaps doing her more harm than good," he argued.

"And if we do not explain to the public how the Church now collects the words of victims or how the criminal statute of limitations works, this testimony may be incomprehensible."

Hearing in the Sauvé Commission

Caroline, now 51 years old, says she wants to "move forward." She tried, in vain, to have her aggressor's canonical trial reopened and considered his conviction in 2016 for abusing other complainants too light.

The decree of judgment referred to inappropriate gestures and attitudes "sometimes seriously scandalizing penitents."

Invoking above all the deafness of the priest, who is now in his nineties, the diocese simply withdrew from him the power to hear confessions.

"This convoluted decree, not clear, reduces the priest's responsibility," acknowledged the Bishop of Limoges to the weekly VSD, which published Caroline's story last March.

"I just wanted to testify, not give a lecture," says Caroline, who says she loves her Church above her suffering.

The former nun, who was treated for her victimology at the Limoges hospital, was invited to speak in a few days' time as part of the Sauvé Commission.

This independent commission, created at the initiative of the French Bishops' Conference, has the task of drawing up an inventory of abuses and explaining how these cases have been handled by Church authorities.

Meanwhile, the case continues: Caroline reported it last April to the Prosecutor of Blois, who decided to investigate the case, despite the statute of limitations.