This estimate, put forward by the NGO, places the case over several decades and across several sites linked to the congregation. It concerns pupils…
The Bétharram congregation considers that the mission entrusted to the NGO tasked with producing a report on violence in its institutions “has ended”…
The stakes go beyond the mere formal closure of a mandate. According to the NGO, between 700 and 1,500 children enrolled between 1950 and 2000 at…
This estimate, put forward by the NGO, places the case over several decades and across several sites linked to the congregation. It concerns pupils who passed through Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram as well as other houses of the same institution.
The Bétharram congregation considers that the mission entrusted to the NGO tasked with producing a report on violence in its institutions “has ended” with the publication of this document. It said so on Thursday, November 12, while the text concerns hundreds of children who were victims of physical and sexual violence in the institution.
The stakes go beyond the mere formal closure of a mandate. According to the NGO, between 700 and 1,500 children enrolled between 1950 and 2000 at Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram, near Lourdes, and in other institutions of this religious congregation, may have suffered sexual, physical or psychological violence.
Dig deeper
What is Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram?
It is a Catholic school in Lestelle-Bétharram, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, run by a religious congregation and at the center of reports of violence against pupils.
What is the Bétharram congregation?
It is the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Bétharram, an order founded in the 19th century by Michel Garicoïts, which has run several educational institutions, including Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram.
Where is Bétharram in relation to Lourdes?
Lestelle-Bétharram lies a few kilometers from Lourdes, a major Catholic pilgrimage site in the Hautes-Pyrénées.
Why does the NGO’s estimate change the scale of the case?
The estimate of 700 to 1,500 children affected between 1950 and 2000 extends the facts over several decades and to other institutions of the same congregation, beyond a single site.
What does it mean, in concrete terms, that the congregation considers the mission “completed”?
It considers that the mandate given to the NGO to document the violence ends with the publication of the report, without that closure alone determining the fate of the victims or any possible judicial or institutional follow-up.