The Econmist - USA (2021-10-09)

The Economist October 9th 2021 Europe 35

P

oliticians’privatefinancesarea big

politicalissueincentralEurope,as

AndrejBabiswellknows.MrBabis,a

billionairewhoisprimeministerofthe

CzechRepublic,facesa generalelection

onOctober8thand9th.A weekbeforeit,

theInternationalConsortiumofIn­

vestigativeJournalists,a reporters’alli­

ance,releasedanextravaganzaofleaks

from 14 financialfirms,whichit called

the“PandoraPapers”.ItchargesthatMr

Babistransferred$22mthroughshell

companiesintheBritishVirginIslands

(bvi), a taxhaven,inordertobuya villa

nearCannesanonymously.MrBabiswas

alreadyfacingyears­longinvestigations

overallegedconflictsofinterestand

improperreceiptofeusubsidiesby

Agrofert,anagriculturalbusinesshe

founded.Hedeniesanywrongdoing.

MrBabiswasnottheonlypolitician

tagged. Wopke Hoekstra, the Nether­

lands’ finance minister, was shown to

have invested €26,500 ($30,500) in a

friend’s safari company, also through a

shell company in the bvi. Mr Hoekstra

kept his shares while serving as a senator

but sold them before becoming a min­

ister, and broke no laws. But his Chris­

tian Democratic party has officially

promised to take “firm action” against

the use of tax havens.

Like the consortium’s earlier in­

vestigations (which include the Panama

Papers in 2016 and the Paradise Papers in

2017), the Pandora Papers show that

secretive financial networks that can aid

tax avoidance and money­laundering

involve not just countries typically seen

as corrupt, but many of those viewed as

cleanly governed. Russians, Saudis and

Americans are all heavily represented in

the leaks. Besides the British Virgin

Islands, the jurisdictions they used

include Luxembourg and South Dakota. 

For the politicians concerned, the

leaks are embarrassing but not devastat­

ing. The Netherlands has been mired in

coalition talks for more than six months,

but Mr Hoekstra seems likely to keep his

job. As for Mr Babis, he is a skilled popu­

list whose supporters tolerate the accu­

sations against him. His party is in first

place in the polls. According to a survey,

two­thirds of Czechs think the govern­

ment is run mainly by private interests.

But whereas Czechs complain that their

politicians are dirty, they do not seem to

bother to elect cleaner ones.

ThePandoraPapers

Embarrassingriches

A MSTERDAM

Shellcompanies,taxhavensandEuropeanpoliticians

Franceanditschurch

The weight of

silence

T

hesheernumberwasoverwhelming.
Between 1950 and 2020 atleast216,000
childrenweresexuallyabusedinFranceby
Catholicclergy.Thus,onOctober5th,con­
cluded a two­year independent inquiry
commissionedbythechurch.Jean­Marc
Sauvé,wholedit,saidituncovered“the
lead weight of silence smothering the
crimes”committedby2,900­3,200clergy.
Iflaymolestersinvolvedinchurchactivi­
tieswere also included, the number of
abusedcouldreach330,000.
MrSauvé’sintroductiontothereportis
chilling and unflinching: “The Catholic
church’simmediatereactionwastopro­
tectitself asan institution”andit“has
showncomplete,evencruel,indifference
tothosewhosuffered”.About90%ofthe
victimswereboys,manybetweentenand
13 yearsold.Hecalledfor“ahumbleac­
knowledgementofresponsibilityfromthe
church authoritiesforthe mistakesand
crimescommittedunderitsauspices”.
Aswasrevealedbyreportsintosexual
abuse by Catholic clergy elsewhere, the
crimesinFranceinvolveda sinisterwebof
misplaced trust, manipulated authority,
concealment, silence and shame. The
abusewascountrywide:inlocalparishes,
scoutgroups,catechismclassesandwith­
infamilies.PopeFrancisexpressed“great
sorrow”forthevictims.FrançoisDevaux,
whosufferedsexualabuseattheageoften
andlaterfoundeda victimsgroup,called
whattheyhadgonethroughsimply“hell”.
It wastheeffortsofsurvivorssuchasMr

Devaux that forced the church to confront

its  denials  and  cover­ups.  He  and  others

came  forward  in  2015  to  accuse  Bernard

Preynat, a priest and scout leader, of sexual

abuse. Mr Preynat was convicted last year.

In 2019 the accusations prompted the res­

ignation  of  Cardinal  Philippe  Barbarin,

convicted of covering up the Preynat affair

(the conviction was overturned on appeal). 

France has an unusual link with Cathol­

icism, due to strict secular rules, known as

laïcité, designed to keep the state neutral in

religious affairs. It lacks the wide network

of  church­linked  boarding  schools  and

state  institutions  that  helped  to  conceal

paedophilia  in  some  other  countries.  Yet

this proved no protection for the victims.

Today the Catholic church in France is a

hollowed­out  version  of  its  former  self.

Numbering  12,000,  the  priesthood  is  half

what it was 20 years ago—and half of those

serving are over 75. Only 49% of the French

say they believe in God. Two years ago 56%

said in one survey that they had a bad im­

age of the Catholic church. This week’s re­

port will entrench these trends.

The church is not the only French arena

in  which  denial  of  sexual  abuse  has  been

exposed.  Another  is  politics,  where,  until

#MeToo,  sexual  violence  towards  women

tended to be hushed up. Two recent books

also reveal how members of Left­Bank Pa­

risian circles deployed the principle of sex­

ual liberty to mask abuse and incest. By ex­

posing the manipulation and cruelty of the

predators, those brave enough tospeakout

may  in  future  help  prevent  such abuse

from going undetected for so long. n

P ARIS

A staggering pattern of sexual abuse

Great sorrow