Le secret et ses masques: l’oubli du tiers

Among others, the Sauvé report of the CIASE (Commission Indépendante sur les Abus Sexuels dans l’Église) in France showed the appalling scale of these abuses, tried to understand what may have encouraged them and issued recommendations on this subject. In this perspective, it questioned what led to the ignorance of the victims, an ignorance that was not necessarily intended but not excusable, since certain omissions are certainly culpable. The question of secrecy thus emerged, particularly with regard to the secrecy of confession, but also with regard to spiritual guidance and the abuse of power by adults in authority. It seems that the common doctrine on this subject generally considers secrecy only as a dual relationship between the person who confides in the framework of secrecy and the person to whom one confides. This way of looking at secrecy shows a lack of understanding of the third party, namely that secrecy can involve a third party and seriously harm him or her, as is the case with these victims of abuse.

This lack or concealment calls for a multidisciplinary investigation with a view to ethical discernment. For it is not a question of repudiating secrecy as such, nor of making it an intangible sanctuary: it is a question of looking at how disregarding the third party or taking him or her into account affects this discernment and consequently moral behaviour. In this research, professors from the Faculty of Theology will be joined by professionals who are confronted with the difficulty of secrecy in society, both civil and religious.