The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) ‘estimates that the number of victims’ could reach ‘at least ten thousand’, he said in a statement.
The commission said it had received 6,500 testimonies so far, involving at least 3,000 different victims.
Jean-Marc Sauvé, the president of the CIASE, said it was not yet known what percentage of all victims testified at the commission.
“It is quite possible that the number of victims will reach at least 10,000. The ongoing work, and in particular the survey among the general population, will make it possible to specify the number,” he said.
The commission was set up in 2018 by the French Catholic Church hierarchy and religious institutes after abuse came to light.
It is funded by the French Catholic Bishops’ Conference, but members are not paid and do not receive instructions from the Church. The archives of dioceses and religious institutions are accessible to the commission.
It is planned to deliver a final report in the fall of 2021.
The rules require that all Catholic dioceses around the world have a ‘public and accessible’ system.
The norms cover internal procedure in the Catholic Church, not the issue of reporting abuse or cover-up to civil authorities, and must be followed by all dioceses.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s leading investigator of sex abuse, told CNN at the time that the new rules add a layer of responsibility to church leaders.
“Firstly that leadership is not above the law,” Scicluna said, “and secondly that leadership needs to know, we all in leadership need to know that if the people love the church, they are going to condemn us when we do something. wrong. ‘