section_path: Political views/Bétharram scandal and François Bayrou's involvement
section_name: Bétharram scandal and François Bayrou's involvement
paragraph_text: Bétharram scandal and François Bayrou's involvement
  
  The Bétharram scandal refers to a case of child sexual abuse committed within the Catholic congregation of the Bétharram Fathers, as revealed by journalistic investigations. This Catholic congregation is in full communion with Rome and has followed all of the liberal reforms of the clergy. The abuses spanned several decades and involved clergy members operating in various schools and shelters linked to the institution. François Bayrou is accused of deliberately ignoring reports of child abuse, defending an institution accused of systemic violence, and helping to obstruct the work of whistleblowers and journalists.
  
  In 2025 Bayrou's daughter Hélène Perlant said that a senior priest at Notre-Dame de Bétharram had beaten her publicly in the 1980s when she was 14, but that she had not told Bayrou, adding "Bétharram was organised like a sect or a totalitarian regime putting psychological pressure on pupils and teachers so they stayed silent." Two hundred legal complaints have been filed since February 2024 alleging physical or sexual abuse by priests and staff at Bétharram from 1957 to 2004, including an allegation of group rape committed by two priests. Some complaints led to charges; others have passed the time limit for prosecution.
  
  The Bétharram scandal refers to a case of child sexual abuse committed within the Catholic congregation of the Bétharram Fathers, as revealed by journalistic investigations. This Catholic congregation is in full communion with Rome and has followed all of the liberal reforms of the clergy. The abuses spanned several decades and involved clergy members operating in various schools and shelters linked to the institution. François Bayrou is accused of deliberately ignoring reports of child abuse, defending an institution accused of systemic violence, and helping to obstruct the work of whistleblowers and journalists.
  
  In 2025 Bayrou's daughter Hélène Perlant said that a senior priest at Notre-Dame de Bétharram had beaten her publicly in the 1980s when she was 14, but that she had not told Bayrou, adding "Bétharram was organised like a sect or a totalitarian regime putting psychological pressure on pupils and teachers so they stayed silent." Two hundred legal complaints have been filed since February 2024 alleging physical or sexual abuse by priests and staff at Bétharram from 1957 to 2004, including an allegation of group rape committed by two priests. Some complaints led to charges; others have passed the time limit for prosecution.
  
  The Bétharram scandal refers to a case of child sexual abuse committed within the Catholic congregation of the Bétharram Fathers, as revealed by journalistic investigations. This Catholic congregation is in full communion with Rome and has followed all of the liberal reforms of the clergy. The abuses spanned several decades and involved clergy members operating in various schools and shelters linked to the institution. François Bayrou is accused of deliberately ignoring reports of child abuse, defending an institution accused of systemic violence, and helping to obstruct the work of whistleblowers and journalists.
  
  In 2025 Bayrou's daughter Hélène Perlant said that a senior priest at Notre-Dame de Bétharram had beaten her publicly in the 1980s when she was 14, but that she had not told Bayrou, adding "Bétharram was organised like a sect or a totalitarian regime putting psychological pressure on pupils and teachers so they stayed silent." Two hundred legal complaints have been filed since February 2024 alleging physical or sexual abuse by priests and staff at Bétharram from 1957 to 2004, including an allegation of group rape committed by two priests. Some complaints led to charges; others have passed the time limit for prosecution.