Vestry at Taize © Jean-Matthieu Gautier (CBA)
Verbal support in a dark hour: the president of the Conference of Religious Men and Women in France, Veronique Margron, has welcomed the open approach of the Christian community of Taize to the cases of abuse.
"A truthful approach contributes to the credibility of the place," she told the French newspaper La Croix in Paris on Wednesday. This approach strengthens trust much more than saying abuse is not a problem in the Taize Christian community, he said. "To be reliable is to be responsible, to recognize that you bear part of the sins and even of the errors, without trying to reconstruct reality to your advantage," Margron said.
The president of the Conference of Religious Men and Women in France (CORREF) had been consulted by the community during the process of reappraisal. "They have decided to talk about it now to show that they have always taken the victims' testimonies very seriously," she says.
Margron says it's the first community to "proactively" choose to deal openly with abuse cases. This is also out of respect and a sense of responsibility for the thousands of young people who are welcomed to Taize every year, Margron said. In addition, Frere Alois Loser stressed that there should be no "bad secrets" between the brothers.
Suspected cases made public
Taize Christian community told Tuesday that three members sexually abused youth decades ago. One or two cases of sexualized violence against minors from the 1950s to the 1980s are at ie in each case. Two of the accused men have reportedly been dead for at least 15 years, the third continues to live in Taize. He has not been involved in the organization of the Taize youth meetings for "quite some time".
Since the 1970s, thousands of young people from France, Germany and all over Europe have come to Taize every year. Most recently, there were about 70 a year.000. Many participate in the spiritual program of the community for several days or weeks. In addition to prayers and services, the focus is on exchanges about religious ies.
The community, founded in 1944 by Brother Roger Schutz, currently has about 100 men from 25 countries. Three quarters live in Taize, one quarter in various small settlements in Asia, Africa and South America. Since 2005, the ecumenical community has been led by Brother Alois Loser (64), a native of Stuttgart, Germany.