Up to 330,000 abused children: French clergy apologize and express shame

A representative of France's Catholic clergy on Tuesday apologized to victims of sexual abuse committed by priests.

The church official's reaction came after publishing a shocking report, in which some 216,000 children have been sexually abused by priests since 1950. The number that could be up to 330 if all Church members are involved.

Eric de Mowlins-Beaufort, chairman of the French clergy's conference, said he and other clergymen want to express shame in the victims of abuse discovered in the volume report.

What's in the report?

The chairman of the commission for investigating abuses by priests Jean-Mark Sawe spoke during the release of the long-standing report on sexual abuses in the French Catholic Church, the BBC writes.

The commission, for more than two and a half years, investigated the courts, police and church records and spoke to victims and witnesses. Sauve, a senior civil servant, said that by the beginning of the new century, the Catholic Church “has shown deep, even cruel indifference to victims”.

The Commission has found evidence of at least 2,900 to 3,200 abusers of all 115,000 priests and other clergymen. The nearly 2,500 - page report says that most victims were preteen boys of different social backgrounds.