Pope in 'tectonic' shake-up of Vatican bureaucracy

Yahoo – AFP, Ella IDE, March 19, 2022 

Francis, 85, put together a group of cardinals to advise
him on how to enact reforms (AFP/Tiziana FABI) (Tiziana FABI)

Pope Francis on Saturday followed through on a promise made ahead of his 2013 election and published a much-anticipated shake-up of the Vatican's powerful governing body. 

The new constitution, which comes into effect on June 5, restructures parts of the unruly Roman Curia, and makes increasing the world's 1.2 billion Catholics the church's number one priority. 

Among the most significant changes are the possibility for lay and female Catholics to head up Vatican departments, and the incorporation of the pope's sex abuse advisory commission into the Curia. 

"Pope Francis has been working on a new organizational structure for the Vatican for nine years. It's a major aspect of his legacy," Joshua McElwee from the National Catholic Reporter said on Twitter. 

'Tectonic shift' 

Cardinals gathered for the conclave to elect a new pope in 2013 were divided between those who believed there were deep-rooted problems in the Curia and those who wanted to preserve the status quo. 

Ex-pope Benedict XVI, who had just resigned, was reported to have tried and failed to clean up a body some even blamed for preventing the church from properly tackling the child sex abuse scandal. 

Francis, 85, put together a group of cardinals to advise him over the years on how to reform the Curia, and has already enacted many changes as he moves to modernise the centuries-old institution. 

The 54-page text entitled "Proclaiming the Gospel", which replaces a constitution drawn up by pope John Paul II in 1988, creates a new department for evangelisation, to be headed up by Francis himself. 

Making himself "Chief Evangelizer" encapsulates a "tectonic shift to a more pastoral, missionary church," David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, said on Twitter. 

In that vein, Francis says every baptised Christian is a missionary. 

"One cannot fail to take this into account in the updating of the Curia, whose reform must provide for involvement of laymen and women, even in roles of government and responsibility," he said. 

'Significant' 

The constitution, released on the ninth anniversary of the inauguration of Francis' papacy, makes the pope's charity czar, currently Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, head of a department in its own right. 

It also brings the Vatican's Commission for the Protection of Minors -- a papal advisory body -- into the office which oversees the canonical investigations of clerical sex abuse cases. 

In doing so, the pope is "effectively establishing the Vatican's first safeguarding office", the Tablet's journalist Christopher Lamb said. 

Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who heads the Commission, said it was a "significant move forward", which would give institutional weight to the fight against a scourge which has plagued the church globally. 

But Marie Collins, an Irish survivor of clerical abuse who served on the commission before resigning in outrage in 2017 over the church's handling of the crisis, slammed it instead as a clear step back. 

"The Commission has now officially lost even a semblance of independence," she said on Twitter.

Representatives of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups attended the synod 

with Pope Francis (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)

Related Articles:

Bishops urge Pope to open priesthood to married men in Amazon

Pope blames Amazon fires on destructive 'interests'

Pope 'opens door' to female deacons with new panel
Pope Francis' No. 2: Clerical celibacy is open to discussion

Pope Francis visits John Paul II's shrine

Church of England creates second female bishop

Church of England’s first female bishop named as Libby Lane

Church of England General Synod approves female bishops

Jubilation as Church of England's synod votes to allow female bishops

Clerics at the Church of England synod in York take a 'selfie' as they celebrate

after the vote to allow female bishops. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“ … Spirituality (Religions)

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation. 

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven.…”

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

'Massive' child sex abuse in French Catholic Church, inquiry finds

Yahoo - AFP, Karine PERRET and Joseph SCHMID, October 5, 2021 

The French Catholic Church expressed "shame and horror" over the abuse
and asked for "forgiveness" (AFP/JEFF PACHOUD)

French Catholic clergy sexually abused around 216,000 minors spanning seven decades since 1950, a "massive phenomenon" that was covered up by a "veil of silence," an independent commission said Tuesday. 

The commission's two-and-a-half-year inquiry and 2,500-page report prompted outrage as the Catholic Church in France and around the world faces a growing number of abuse claims and prosecutions. 

Pope Francis expressed "great pain" over the "appalling" findings, a Vatican spokesman said, adding: "His thoughts turn first to the victims, with great sorrow for their wounds and gratitude for their courage in speaking out." 

The report found that the "vast majority" of victims were pre-adolescent boys from a variety of social backgrounds. Their abusers were mainly priests, bishops, deacons and monks. 

When claims against lay members of the Church, such as teachers at Catholic schools are included, the number of child abuse victims climbs to 330,000 since 1950, the report found. 

"These figures are more than worrying, they are damning and in no way can remain without a response," commission chief Jean-Marc Sauve told a press conference that unveiled the nearly 2,500-page report. 

"Until the early 2000s, the Catholic Church showed a profound and even cruel indifference towards the victims." 

Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Bishops' Conference of France (CEF), which co-requested the report, expressed his "shame and horror" at the findings. 

"My wish today is to ask forgiveness from each of you," he told the news conference. 

Jean-Marc Sauvre was one of France's highest-ranking civil servants
(AFP/THOMAS COEX)

'Deviant system' 

Sauve denounced the "systemic character" of efforts to shield clergy from sex abuse claims and urged the Church to pay reparations even though most cases are well beyond the statute of limitations for prosecution. 

His commission detailed 45 recommendations to avoid further abuse, not least a requirement that priests inform prosecutors of any child abuse during the sacrament of confession -- under Catholic doctrine priests are usually bound to absolute secrecy. 

"We expect clear and concrete responses by the Church," a collective of six victims' associations said. 

The report, at nearly 2,500 pages, found that the "vast majority" of victims were pre-adolescent boys from a variety of social backgrounds. 

"The Catholic Church is, after the circle of family and friends, the environment that has the highest prevalence of sexual violence," the report said. 

Sauve had already told AFP on Sunday that a "minimum estimate" of 2,900 to 3,200 clergy members had sexually abused children in the French Church since 1950. 

Yet only a handful of cases prompted disciplinary action under canonical law, let alone criminal prosecution. 

The commission began its work after Pope Francis vowed to address abuse by priests in May 2019, ordering people aware of cases to report them to Church officials. 

In France in particular, the case of Philippe Barbarin, an archbishop initially convicted of not telling police of a priest's abuse of boy scouts, drew outrage after he was acquitted in January 2020. 

Francois Devaux, head of a victims' association, condemned a "deviant system" and called for a new "Vatican III" council to chart a way forward. 

Sexual abuse in the French Catholic Chucrh (AFP/Bertille LAGORCE)

'Dumbfounded' 

"You have finally given an institutional recognition to victims of all the Church's responsibilities, something that bishops and the pope have not yet been prepared to do," Devaux said at the news conference. 

"I'm dumbfounded," said Yolande Ormancey, a 63-year-old parishioner praying Tuesday at the Fourviere basilica in Lyon, southeast France. 

"I expect these criminals to be punished, and support offered to victims whose lives have been ruined," she said. 

The victim estimates were largely based on a representative study carried out by France's INSERM health and medical research institute. 

Sauve and his team of 21 specialists, all unaffiliated with the Church, also interviewed hundreds of people who came forward to tell their stories. 

"If the veil of silence covering the acts committed has finally been torn away... we owe it to the courage of these victims," he wrote. 

The commission also had access to police files and Church archives, citing only two cases of refusals by Church institutions to turn over requested documents. 

Overall, it found that 2.5 percent of French clergy since 1950 had sexually abused minors, a ratio below the 4.4 to seven percent uncovered by similar inquiries in other countries. 

While that would imply an unusually high number of victims per assailant, "a sexual predator can in fact have a high number of victims, especially those who attack boys," the report found.

Pope rejects German bishop's offer to quit over abuse

Yahoo – AFP, Alvise ARMELLINI with Hui Min NEO in Berlin, June 10, 2021

Marx condemned the way the Catholic Church had handled child sex abuse scandals

Pope Francis on Thursday rejected an offer by top German bishop Reinhard Marx to resign over the huge child sex abuse scandal rocking the Church, urging the cardinal known for his reforms to stay and help shape change in the institution. 

"Continue as you propose (in your pastoral work) but as Archbishop of Munich and Freising," the pope wrote to Marx, a cardinal and member of his inner circle, referring to the position he was offering to vacate. 

Marx voiced surprise at the swift reply from the pope and said he accepted the "great challenge" put to him. 

"This means that for me and our common work at the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, we'll have to consider which new paths we can take, also in view of the history of the multitudes of failure," Marx said in a statement. 

He added that he will in the next weeks "reflect on how we can contribute even more to the renewal of the Church". 

Marx, who himself was never accused of abuse or of a cover-up, announced earlier this month that he had offered the pope his resignation over the church's "institutional and systemic failure" in handling child sex abuse scandals. 

The stunning decision came after the church in Germany, like in many places elsewhere, was shaken by allegations of wide-ranging abuse by clergymen against minors. 

In his letter, the pope agreed with Marx in condemning the "catastrophe" of clerical sexual abuse scandals and the way the Catholic Church dealt with them "until recently". 

"The entire Church is in crisis because of the abuse issue" and "the Church cannot proceed without tackling this crisis", the pope wrote, adding: "The ostrich policy (of burying one's head in the sand) leads nowhere." 

The pope said the Catholic Church could not "live with the weight of having 'skeletons in the closet', as the saying goes," and said it needed to confess to its sins and "ask for the grace of shame". 

Francis thanked the archbishop for his "Christian courage which does not fear the cross, which does not fear to be overwhelmed by the tremendous reality of sin". 

Pope Francis said the Church was in crisis because of the "abuse issue"

Roland Juchem, a specialist who writes for Catholic German press agency KNA, said that with his letter "the pope hopes... to send a message to the whole Church on how to deal with sexual abuse, taking the example of Cardinal Marx." 

'Shared responsibility' 

Known as a prominent advocate for change, Marx has clashed with both the Vatican and more conservative German clerics, but has also been closely involved in Francis' reforming efforts. 

He is part of a seven-strong Council of Cardinals advising the pope on a general overhaul of the Vatican's administration, and leads the Council of the Economy, which oversees money matters. 

Marx headed the German Bishops' Conference from 2012 to 2020 -- a period when it commissioned a study which revealed widespread sexual abuse by German clergy. 

It found that 1,670 clergymen had committed some type of sexual attack against 3,677 minors, mostly boys, between 1946 and 2014, while saying this was almost certainly an underestimate. 

Another report published in March exposed the scope of abuse by priests in Germany's top diocese in Cologne. 

Cologne bishop Rainer Maria Woelki, an arch-conservative, faced months of public criticism after he refused last year to allow the publication of an initial study. 

He later commissioned the second report, which revealed that 314 minors, mostly boys under the age of 14, were sexually abused between 1975 and 2018 in the western city. 

Last month, the pope sent two envoys to Cologne to investigate "possible mistakes" made by Cardinal Woelki. 

In his resignation letter, dated May 21 and published on June 4, Marx said: "It is important to me to share the responsibility for the catastrophe of the sexual abuse by Church officials over the past decades." 

Slamming colleagues who "refuse to believe there is a shared responsibility in this respect", the 67-year-old said the Catholic Church was at "a dead end". 

Marx added that he hoped his resignation would offer a new beginning for the Church.

Related Article:

Canada mourns 215 children after remains found at indigenous school

Germany's under-fire Catholic Church seeks new leader

Yahoo – AFP, Isabelle LE PAGE, March 2, 2020

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich, says he will not seek another term
as head of the German Bishops' Conference (AFP Photo/Daniel ROLAND)

Berlin (AFP) - German bishops began key talks on Monday to choose a new leader to steer the country's Catholic Church through a controversial reforms process and settle compensation demands from sexual abuse victims.

The four-day episcopal gathering in the western city of Mainz comes at a time of fierce debate about how to modernise Germany's Catholic Church, pitting conservative bishops against more progressive ones.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, a driving force behind efforts to renew the under-fire Church, last month unexpectedly announced he would not seek another six-year term as head of the German Bishops' Conference, saying he was too old at 66.

The several dozen bishops attending the annual general assembly will choose his successor in a secret vote on Tuesday, although no clear frontrunner has emerged.

Besides confronting calls to relax the rules on priestly celibacy and the roles of women in the clergy, the new chairman will have to deal with the Church's sexual abuse baggage.

Stephan Ackermann, the bishop charged with addressing the historic child abuse scandal, recently said he expected a decision "in the coming months" about financial compensation for survivors.

In his opening address in Mainz, Marx said he saw an opportunity for "a very concrete proposal" to be put forward at the Bishops' Conference.

'Damage done'

More than a decade after the first abuse revelations emerged in Germany, victims are losing patience.

"There's no reason to wait any longer," the Eckiger Tisch victims' group said, calling for a resolution this year.

The group has proposed a one-off sum of around 300,000 euros ($330,000) per person, or the creation of a fund paid for by the Church but run by independent overseers.

Franz-Josef Overbeck, Bishop of Essen, is seen as a potential successor to take 

over from Reinhard Marx (AFP Photo/FRIEDRICH STARK)

Several high-ranking Church officials have rejected the proposals as too costly.

A study commissioned by the German Bishops' Conference and released in 2018 showed that 1,670 clergymen had committed some form of sexual attack against 3,677 minors, mostly boys, between 1946 and 2014.

The revelations, which mirror paedophile scandals in Australia, Chile, France, Ireland and the United States, prompted Cardinal Marx to apologise on behalf of the German Catholic Church.

The Church currently pays victims an average sum of 5,000 euros "in recognition of their suffering", as well as covering their therapy fees.

"It's not about recognition. It's about compensation for the damage that's been done to the lives of thousands of people," said Matthias Katsch from Eckiger Tisch.

Celibacy, women

At 23 million followers, the Catholic Church remains Germany's biggest religious community. But its pews are increasingly empty on Sundays and it struggles to recruit new priests.

Hoping to renew itself and regain the public's trust, the German Church recently embarked on two years of discussions tackling the institution's most controversial themes, including the child abuse crisis.

The project, known as the synodal path, will also debate whether to end celibacy and allow priests to marry, and whether women should be ordained.

Traditionalists within the Church have already voiced opposition to such changes, chief among them the influential Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne.

Critics of the reform push also say such decisions should come from the Vatican, and not from Catholic leaders in Germany.

Pope Francis last month disappointed progressives by rejecting a proposal to allow married men to become priests in remote Amazon regions, a plan meant to counter a shortage of clerics.

He also stopped short of allowing women to be ordained as deacons in the region.

Representatives from Catholic women's associations presented the bishops in Mainz on Monday with a petition calling for more gender equality in the clergy, signed by 130,000 supporters.

"We're not trying to divide the Church. We are the core of the Church," said Mechthild Heil of the Catholic Women's Association of Germany (KFD).

One of the candidates tipped as the next leader of Germany's Catholics, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen, urged the 2,000-year-old Church in a recent sermon to choose "a fresh start".

The limitations placed on women in the Church are "increasingly unacceptable" to many people, he warned, while "quite a few priests" find celibacy "a heavy burden".

UK politicians 'turned a blind eye' to child sexual abuse for decades

A report into sexual abuse against children by British politicians says that Westminster "actively shielded" suspects from investigation. One of the alleged perpetrators was the private secretary to Margaret Thatcher.

DW, 25 February 2020

Politicians Cyril Smith and David Steel in 1981 (picture-alliance/PA Wire)

British politicians turned a blind eye to the sexual abuse of children and actively covered up allegations over decades, an independent inquiry found on Tuesday.

The inquiry did not find evidence of an organized pedophile network. The inquiry examined the years between the 1960s and the 1990s.

The report found there had been "significant failures by Westminster institutions in their responses to allegations of child sexual abuse."

Read more: Child sex abuse: How long do the statutes of limitations run in the EU?

"This included failure to recognize it, turning a blind eye to it, actively shielding and protecting child sexual abusers and covering up allegations," the report's summary said.

Former Liberal leader David Steel, one of the most influential Liberal politicians of the twentieth century, announced his resignation from the centrist Liberal Democrat party and the House of Lords later on Tuesday. Steel was condemned in the report for failing to act despite knowing about cases of child sexual abuse.

Margaret Thatcher was among those who turned a blind eye to allegations
of child sexual abuse

Politicians 'protected from prosecution'

The 173-page report named several members of parliament, including Peter Morrison and Cyril Smith as being "known or rumored to be active in their sexual interest in children and were protected from prosecution in a number of ways."

Morrison was the private secretary to Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister in the 1980s.

The report highlighted that Thatcher was aware of Morrison having a "penchant for small boys" but did nothing about it. Similarly, David Steel was aware that Cyril Smith was a serial sex offender but did nothing about it, later recommending him for a knighthood.

The inquiry also found that the police knew enough to prosecute Smith in the 1970s, but were thwarted by senior policemen who thought such a move would be "too political."

Inquiry continues

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was set up in 2017 and is expected to take five years to be completed.

The inquiry is one of the largest and most expensive ever undertaken in Britain. The Westminster investigation is one of several investigations underway.

“We hope this report and its recommendations will lead political institutions to prioritize the needs and safety of vulnerable children," said Chair Alexis Jay

Underage rape probe opened into French author Matzneff

Yahoo – AFP, Eleonore DERMY, January 3, 2020

In the book "Consent", Springora describes how she was seduced at the age
of 14 by Matzneff (AFP Photo/Martin BUREAU)

Paris (AFP) - Paris prosecutors on Friday opened a rape investigation into the author Gabriel Matzneff, a day after the publication of a book detailing his sexual relationship with a girl of 14 over three decades ago.

The case has attracted huge interest in France, which is only now beginning to scrutinise attitudes after decades of what is seen by some as an overly permissive attitude towards sexual exploitation of women and paedophilia.

The probe was launched after an examination of the book "Consent", published on Thursday, where author Vanessa Springora describes a sexual relationship she had with Matzneff in the mid-1980s when he was 36 years her senior, Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said in a statement.

Heitz said the inquiry would focus on "rapes committed against a minor" aged under 15.

In "Consent", Springora, 47, now a leading publisher, describes how she was seduced at the age of 14 by Matzneff and how this left lasting scars.

Matzneff, an essay writer long admired by some in French literary circles, never made any secret of his preference for sex with adolescent girls and boys.

In the mid-1970s, he published a notorious essay called "Les Moins de Seize Ans" ("Those Less than 16").

'All other victims'

Springora had indicated she did not intend to bring a criminal complaint against Matzneff. But the Paris prosecutors used their power to open an investigation of their own accord.

Heitz said that beyond the events described by Springora, the investigation "will work to identify all other eventual victims who could have been subjected to crimes of the same nature in France or abroad".

In France it is against the law to have a sexual relationship with anyone under the age of 15.

Gabriel Matzneff has denounced Springora's book, saying it attempts to 

portray him as "a pervert, a manipulator and a predator." (AFP Photo/

Jacques DEMARTHON)

It is possible that investigations into Springora's evidence could be restricted by the statute of limitations, which in 2018 was extended to 30 from 20 years for this kind of crime but is not retroactive.

The book comes in the age of #MeToo as France wrestles with a series of accusations by women who say they were exploited by men who often held positions of power.

In one of the most prominent recent cases, French actress Adele Haenel accused film director Christophe Ruggia of constantly harassing her from the age of 12 to 15. She has since filed a complaint against him.

And the controversy has intensified around French-Polish film director Roman Polanski, a fugitive from US justice since 1978 when he admitted to statutory rape of a 13 year-old, after he brought out his new film "An Officer and a Spy".

'Not what we experienced'

Matzneff has denied any wrongdoing and in a lengthy statement sent to the L'Express magazine claimed that there had been an "exceptional love" between him and Springora, and that he did not "deserve the ugly portrait" that had been painted of him.

"No, this is not me, this is not what we experienced together and you know it," said the writer, now 83, denouncing a book that he says tries to portray him as "a pervert, a manipulator and a predator".

In 2013, Matzneff was awarded the Renaudot prize for his essays on international affairs and philosophy, an award one member of the jury has now conceded was a mistake.

"It is clear that he would not have got the prize for one of his intimate journals," jury member Frederic Beigbeder told the Parisien daily. "This prize was a blunder."

In the book Springora writes: "Aged 14, you are not supposed to have a 50-year-old man waiting for you when you leave school, you are not supposed to live in a hotel with him, or find yourself in his bed with his penis in your mouth when you should be having a snack."

Ahead of the book's publication, French ministers rounded on Matzneff, with Culture Minister Franck Riester saying "having a literary aura is not a guarantee of impunity."

Britain's Prince Andrew has 'no recollection' of Epstein sex accuser

Yahoo – AFP, Joe JACKSON, November 16, 2019

Prince Andrew, the eighth in line to the throne, has come in for heavy criticism
over his links to Epstein who died in custody in the US in August (AFP Photo/
Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

London (AFP) - Britain's Prince Andrew has said he does not remember meeting Virginia Roberts, one of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein's alleged victims, who claims she was forced to have sex with the royal.

But Andrew admitted in an interview with the BBC due to be broadcast on Saturday that his decision to remain friends with Epstein after he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor was a serious error of judgement.

"I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever," Andrew told BBC interviewer Emily Maitlis, according to extracts from "Prince Andrew and the Epstein Scandal" released ahead of the programme airing.

Andrew, 59, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and eighth in line to the throne, has been heavily criticised over his links to multimillionaire Epstein, who died in custody in the US in August.

A photograph apparently showing Andrew with his arm around then 17-year-old Roberts, now Giuffre, and with Epstein's friend Ghislaine Maxwell standing in the background, has been widely published. Supporters of Andrew, however, have disputed its authenticity.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a girl under the age of 18 for prostitution and served 13 months in a US prison before being released on probation.

He was arrested in July on new federal charges that he trafficked girls as young as 14 for sex, but was found dead in New York's high-security Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10 as he awaited trial.

A coroner ruled that he committed suicide by hanging.

'The wrong thing to do'

The BBC interview is the first time Andrew has answered questions on his relationship with Epstein. In 2015, he used a public appearance at Davos in Switzerland to deny the claims.

Pressed over the fact that he remained friends with the disgraced financier after his conviction, even staying at his Manhattan townhouse, Andrew said he regretted the decision.

"It was a convenient place to stay," the prince added.

"I have gone through this in my mind so many times. At the end of the day, with the benefit of all the hindsight one can have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do.

"But at the time I felt it was the honourable and right thing to do."

Andrew went on to concede it was "not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family".

"We try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that," he told Maitlis of the BBC's Newsnight programme.

A coroner ruled that Epstein committed suicide by hanging
(AFP Photo)

'Sex slave' claim

Over the years Epstein, 66, hobnobbed with politicians, socialites and celebrities, including Donald Trump before he was president, and Bill Clinton.

After his death Giuffre, who says she was abused by Epstein for years and farmed out to his wealthy friends including Andrew, said "the reckoning must not end, it must continue".

She has alleged she was forced to have sex with the prince three times, an allegation he has strongly denied.

"He knows exactly what he's done and I hope he comes clean about it," she told reporters after a US hearing on August 27 at which other alleged Epstein victims also described how they were abused.

Giuffre previously testified that she was forced to have sex with Andrew in London in 2001 when she was 17. She said she had sex with him again in New York and on Epstein's private island in the Caribbean.

But the allegations were struck from the record by a US judge in 2015, who said the "lurid details" were not needed to decide a civil case concerning Epstein.

She has filed a lawsuit in the US accusing Epstein of using her as a "sex slave".

'Real gentleman'

Buckingham Palace has strenuously denied the claims, calling them "false and without foundation".

In August, it issued a statement after a video emerged purporting to show Andrew at Epstein's New York home in 2010 waving goodbye to a woman leaving the property.

"His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is abhorrent," the statement said.

Sarah Ferguson, Andrew's ex-wife and the mother of his two daughters, also defended the embattled royal ahead of Saturday's interview broadcast.

"Andrew is a true (and) real gentleman and is stoically steadfast to not only his duty but also his kindness," she wrote on Twitter.

Britain's Prince Andrew provoked a backlash Sunday following an extraordinary TV interview branded "disastrous" by public relations experts in which he denied having sex with an alleged victim of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteinhttps://t.co/rLEUWi1S69 pic.twitter.com/RJKFO45lbH

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 17 november 2019