Priests in France required to wear ID cards with QR code to check they are not sex abusers

RELIGIOUS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA)N- Catholic priests in France will be required to wear ID cards with a QR code so that the public can check if they are imposters who have been struck off for sexual abuse. The Catholic Herald and several other publications explain that the wallet-sized  cards will bring up a green, orange or red light depending on the priest’s status and career history.

It will show whether a priest is qualified to lead Mass or hear confession, and whether the priest has been stripped of clerical status and may have faced sex abuse charges. The system was announced at the French Bishops’ Conference to replace the papers that priests usually carry showing their qualifications.

In 2021, a report found that 216,000 children, mainly boys, had been abused by the clergy since 1950.

François Devaux,  spokesman for an abuse survivors group said: “It’s quite an exceptional measure which, in my opinion, is one of the Catholic Church’s top three most stupid ideas”.