Mr. Sauvé declared the Catholic Church’s attitude until app. 2000 was “a cruel indifference towards victims”[1]. The investigation had been ordered three years ago by the French conference of bishops. Until 2000, the abuse was made possible by a "veil of silence" and denial.
Cover of the CIASE's report
(in French, English translation to follow later in the year)
“The head [Jean-Marc Sauvé] of an independent commission investigating child sexual abuse in the French Catholic church has said about 3,000 paedophiles have operated inside the institution since 1950.” (The Guardian, 3 Oct 2021)
“The report found the huge scale of sexual abuse in the Catholic church was higher than in other institutions such as state schools, holiday camps and sporting organisations. “The Catholic church is, after the circle of family and friends, the environment that has the highest prevalence of sexual violence,” the report said.” (The Guardian, 5 Oct. 2021)
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| (by courtesy of the buddhism-controversy-blog "hear nothing, see nothing, say nothing") |
Sexual abuse and abuse of power in general happen in every society and on all levels of society. It also happens in Buddhism, in Buddhist monasteries, in Buddhist centers and communities, both in the West and the East, without distinction. Summer 2017 could have been a turning point with the Dalaï-Lama’s ‘Sogyal Rinpoche; my very good friend, but he’s disgraced’.
Whatever the precise meaning of that sentence (how and by whom he was disgraced is unclear), it wasn’t a moment where the leaders of Tibetan Buddhism decided to finally do something about a recurring problem in the West. “The veil of silence” is still in place. Rigpa commissioned “an independent investigation into the allegations” (Karen Baxter, Partner, Lewis Silkin LLP) and a report was published with findings and recommendations (English, French, and German). AFAIK not a single Tibetan religious leader has commented on it (drop a comment if you know of one). Tibetan Buddhists will have to make do with this enigmatic little soundbite of the Dalaï-Lama.
There hasn’t been anything more, apart from the promise made in fall 2018 to a delegation of survivors of TB masters that the topic were to be discussed during a meeting of all the Tibetan religious leaders. This discussion never took place. The only recommendation made by Tibetan hierarchs and their agents is “to thoroughly investigate a teacher before one gets involved”, because “authentic teachers are as rare as stars by daylight”.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg, it merely concerns abuse of power (including sexual abuse) in Western Tibetan Buddhist circles. Not much is known about abuse in (Tibetan) Buddhist monasteries, and only indirectly, but it’s very much present. It needed the confessions of a well known tulkou in the West, to become aware of it (again). AFIK no investigation took place after his confessions. I have been told one of the rapist monks was expelled and two others were placed in a different monastery (just like the Catholic Church used to do in the past).
The Catholic Church in France didn’t have the choice to not commission an independent investigation, but it genuinely seemed to want to know what happened. Hopefully, the recommendations that were made will be respected and followed up. Also hopefully other religious communities will have the same courage to know and to do something about it. It’s not like the problems are not there as long as they haven’t been properly investigated and reports haven't been published with recommendations.
If eliminating suffering AND the causes of suffering, and compassion really mean something in Buddhism, one would expect Buddhist leaders to want to know about suffering in their communities, so they can do something about the causes of this particularly traumatic form of suffering. Is it merely a question of denial (voluntary ignorance "avidyā")? Lack of courage? Can a bodhisattva lack courage (Sapere aude)? Meanwhile the abuse continues, the suffering and the traumas continue, where the abused sometimes become abusers themselves… What purpose do such sacrifices serve?
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Sauvé's formula "cruel indifference" seems also to be in reaction to the formula "saint indifférence", where the will of the individual is substituted by God's will.
[1] “The president of the investigative committee, Jean-Marc Sauvé, told a press conference: “Until the early 2000s the Catholic church showed a profound and even cruel indifference towards the victims.” The Guardian 5 Oct 2021
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