Sexual assaults in a Catholic community. The bishop denies having covered up the facts

An investigation by Médiapart has revealed the extent of the sexual assaults reported by 90 women and teenage girls working or being cared for in the Tressaint hostel in Lanvallay (Côtes d'Armor). After the death of the priest accused of these abuses, the victims informed his successor at the head of the community, Hervé Gosselin, of the past assaults. However, during his twelve years in charge, the new priest did his utmost to silence the witnesses, before becoming the Bishop of Angoulême. The latter denies this in a press release.

According to Médiapart, dozens of women who have come to the Foyer de Charité de Tressaint for a spiritual retreat, some of them teenagers seeking refuge from family conflicts, have reported that they have been sexually assaulted.

Founded in 1966 by Father Van der Borght and belonging to the Catholic Church, the home is housed in a 14th-century Breton manor house in the heart of a 7-hectare park near Dinan.

When the priest who had run the community since it was founded died in 2004, young women confided in his successor, Father Hervé Gosselin.

"Serious gestures" during individual meetings with the spiritual father

According to Médiapart, they described in writing how Father Van der Borght, who can be seen in this report on the Tressaint community produced by the Catholic channel KTO, imposed gestures during individual meetings. According to the testimonies gathered by the Community itself, from 2018 onwards, the "spiritual father" and hierarch imposed kisses on the mouth, hands on the breasts and buttocks, and the head held on his crotch. 

Silence from the person to whom the victims had confided 

When the former residents complained about what they had suffered to the new head of the community, they finally understood that the case would be kept quiet. But in 2018, two years after Father Hervé Gosselin became Bishop of Angoulême, he told the newspaper La Croix that he was "not aware of the Van der Borght case". According to Médiapart, what was perceived as a mendacious denial triggered four women to speak out, agreeing to testify in the press and to refer the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

According to Médiapart, what is perceived as a false denial triggers four women to speak out, agreeing to testify in the press and take the matter to the heads of the Foyers de Charité.

Call for testimony from the Foyers de Charité

In October 2018, Œuvre des Foyers de Charité decided to call on the victims to come forward. Two months later, the national structure announced that at Tressaint, "more than 20 women, adults today, revealed that they had suffered serious acts and came forward to us."

No response

Interviewed by Médiapart, the former head of the Tressaint community, who succeeded Father Van der Borght until 2015, said that he was "working to appease the victims", although he had not shed any light on the alleged assaults.

And yet, while the work of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church is beginning to attract media attention, particularly as regards paedocriminality in the Church, Hervé Gosselin, now a bishop, is showing his concern about the abuse of children by priests, as he hints in an interview with France 3 Poitou-Charentes in March 2021.

On Friday 16 June, Bishop Gosselin responded to journalists' requests in a press release, in which he did not explain why he had not made known the views of the victims who had contacted him, even though the priest in question had died.

"I would like to reiterate firmly that I did not receive any alerts, confidences or reports while this priest was still alive. It was only after his death in December 2004 that I received the first information about the serious acts of which Father Van der Borght is accused."

As far as we know, the women who made the accusations have not lodged a complaint, and some of the facts are time-barred.

For its part, the network of Foyers de Charité and its 12 establishments welcoming women for spiritual retreats in France, has taken certain measures to prevent attacks on its residents: staff training on how to detect aggression, training on communication between members of the community. 

Contacted by our editorial team, Camille A, who has lived and worked in the Tressaint Charité home since 2005, believes that "it was a tsunami when we (the members of the community) found out about this in 2017-2018. What helped us a lot was that we worked with a group psychologist to provide community support for two years. This enabled us to put into words the actions of Father Van der Borght, and the repercussions this may have had on the community. He adds that "individual psychological support from professionals was offered to members who wished it".

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