«Being alone with a minor even in visible space». This is the point that makes the difference card that every man of the Church in France, from priests to bishops, possesses and that has a QR Code. From this one arrives at a page that contains all the information on the person: if he can celebrate mass, confess, celebrate weddings and funerals, make pilgrimages but also be with groups of boys and not only find himself alone with a lad.
There are about 17 thousand deacons, priests and bishops who will have this digital card updated by the end of the year. This QR Code leads to a site with history and history of each one with indications on possible restrictions. Until now there was a paper version, easy to forgeries and difficult to update.
The initiative of the French Bishops’ Conference also aims to be a response to the pedophilia scandals that have emerged in recent years. According to an independent report from 2021, between 1950 and 2020 there would have been about 330,000 children who were victims of abuse.
The celebrat, this is the name of the card, has a QR Code, framing it with the smartphone makes a green sign appear and this means that the person is authorized to carry out any liturgical and pastoral activity. If, on the other hand, it is orange, it signals the presence of a restriction that is not immediately visible, but through a personal PIN code held by the priest. If the color is red it is a ban on celebrating and confessing, especially in the presence of pending disciplinary situations or convictions.
For representatives of victims’ associations it is not a sufficient countermeasure. They would have liked the dissemination of consultable dossiers on priests with convictions and not color codes that must be interpreted and that people will hardly go to see.
- Cagliari, “Here’s how we tracked down the pedophile”. The Tale of Undercover Agents
- Day against pedophilia, Agnes: “I was 12 and he abused me”
- Day against pedophilia and child pornography, victims under 13 are on the rise
- Pedophilia, she filmed the abuse of her 2-year-old daughter to sell them
- Pedophile priests: there are 418 in Italy, according to the report of the Abuse Network
Source: Vanity Fair
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