Overview

• Hélène Perlant, daughter of Prime Minister François Bayrou, shared her experience of violent abuse by Abbé Lartiguet at a Bétharram-affiliated camp in the 1980s.
• The Bétharram congregation denied organizing the camp or Lartiguet’s membership but acknowledged broader criticism tied to its community.
• Experts attribute the prolonged silence around the abuses to a systemic culture of deference to institutional authority and societal norms of the time.
• Perlant’s revelations come ahead of the release of her book, 'Le Silence de Bétharram,' which documents her testimony and broader survivor experiences.
• The scandal has prompted ongoing legal investigations, a parliamentary inquiry, and heightened scrutiny of private Catholic institutions in France.