Abuse Revelations and a French Church in Retreat

The Catholic Church in France was once so powerful that it was considered a state within a state. In Roman Catholicism's global hierarchy, France cemented its position as far back as the fifth century, when it became known as the "eldest daughter of the church." While Catholicism has ebbed across the Western world, its unrelenting decline in France is all the more striking given its past prominence. Now, a devastating church-ordered report on sexual abuse by the clergy released this week, after a similar reckoning elsewhere, was yet another degradation, further shaking what was once a pillar of French culture and society.