The Roman Catholic Church in France is has been rocked after the revelations that at least 330,000 minors have been sexually abused by clergy and other Church officials for the past 70 years.

The chairman of the committee that issued the report, Jean-Marc Sauve, said the report, based on scientific research, found that the rapes were committed by priests and other clergymen as well as non-religious people involved in the church.

“The consequences are very serious. “About 60% of abused men and women face significant problems in their emotional or sexual lives,” the report said.

Most of the victims were boys, he said, many of them aged between 10 and 13.

“Faced with this scourge, for a very long time the Catholic Church’s immediate reaction was to protect itself as an institution and it has shown complete, even cruel, indifference to those having suffered abuse,” the report said.

The 2,500-page document saw the light of day today as the Roman Catholic Church in France, as in other countries, seeks to confront dark secrets that have tarnished its reputation for several years.

The revelations, which showed the problem in France was more widespread than previously thought, were the latest to rock the Roman Catholic Church, after a series of sexual abuse scandals around the world, often involving children.

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