Overview

• The commission launched a nationwide call on June 23 for testimonies from victims, former priests and other witnesses to support its one-year inquiry.
• Hearings of victims began immediately and will extend to clergy and perpetrators of the violence through December as part of a process aimed at reparative justice.
• Jean-Pierre Massias likens the inquiry to post-conflict Truth Commissions and has enlisted a CNRS laboratory to organise Congregation archives for public access.
• Investigators are probing reports of “violence importation” by Bétharram priests abroad, with preliminary testimonies identified in Côte d’Ivoire and the African African Republic.
• An internal audit shows €700,000 has compensated 19 victims—about 60 percent of its reserves—and Massias proposes that the State and Catholic education system share reparations funding.