FRANCE
France 24
Enquête exclusive : Église et pédophilie, une affaire africaine
[with video]
Following a series of paedophilia scandals in the Catholic Church in recent years, FRANCE 24 reporters investigated the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic religious community that has been sending missionaries to Africa for nearly a century. In Senegal we met with an alleged victim of abuse before tracking down the accused in Quebec.
Warning: Some of the language in this video report may be unsuitable for minors.
FRANCE 24 reporters contacted Souleymane in April through La Parole Libérée, a French association that helps victims of paedophilia. A Senegalese man now around 40 years of age, Souleymane told us his story but would not appear on camera.
He recounted his childhood in Kaolack, a large city southeast of the capital Dakar, and his education at the Pius XII college, run by the Canadian branch of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.
Souleymane was 12 when one of the missionaries, a French teacher, first invited him after class to attend a private “sex education” lesson. Souleymane says he was abused for three years afterwards but did not dare tell anyone.
Hidden camera
In 2010 Souleymane says he contacted another member of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart who was teaching at the Pius XII college at the time and who still taught at a high school in Dakar. Souleymane affirms that he told him his painful story and learned that the man he accuses is apparently close to death and now living in Canada.
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