‘It is essential that we, as a Church, be able to acknowledge and condemn, with sorrow and shame, the atrocities perpetrated by consecrated persons, clerics, and all those entrusted with the mission of watching over and caring for those most vulnerable.’
Pope Francis, Letter to the people of God – 20 August 2018
The Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) undertakes to combat all forms of physical, psychological, moral and sexual abuse by its members or volunteers, in France or abroad.
The Paris Foreign Missions Society has been working for several years to prevent abuse and has put in place a code of ethics for pastoral conduct intended for priests, deacons, seminarians, lay volunteers and anyone on a pastoral mission with the MEP Society : Charte de déontologie de conduite pastorale MEP – version 02/11/2020
MEP adheres without restriction to French legislation and the provisions of canon law, as well as to the decisions of the Conference of Bishops of France and of the Holy See. In the countries where it operates, MEP complies with the legislation in force. It is aware of the importance of the document ‘Combating Paedophilia’ issued by the Conference of Bishops of France and updated by the declaration of April 12, 2016 of the Permanent Council of the Episcopate. It recommends using the website created by the Conference of Bishops of France to identify and act against paedophilia: luttercontrelapedophilie.catholique.fr
If you have an account of abuse or inappropriate behaviour by an MEP member or volunteer, or would like to report such behaviour, we would encourage you to report it through the following channels:
- by contacting the Paris Foreign Missions Society using this dedicated email address: sos-protection@missionsetrangeres.com
- by contacting the Recognition and Reparation Commission through its website: https://www.reconnaissancereparation.org
- by contacting France Victims via its website: https://www.france-victimes.fr
We would also encourage you to report the facts to the courts. In the case of sexual assaults on minors or vulnerable people, we would remind you that a statement must be given either in a police station or directly to the Public Prosecutor.
