Abuse The abbot of St. Maurice steps down
The Abbot of St. Maurice, Jean Scarcella, is stepping down. This was announced by the abbey on Saturday. A report had recently pointed to "inadequate" handling of sexual abuse in the institution.
28.06.2025, 13:15
SDA
In the statement, Scarcella once again asked the victims and the faithful for forgiveness. He hoped that the decisions would help to eliminate all forms of abuse. Pope Leo XIV had accepted the renunciation of the father abbot, the abbey said. The management of the institution is currently being taken over by Prior Simon Previte as chapter vicar.
According to the report by an independent working group, Saint-Maurice Abbey in Valais has failed to deal with the numerous cases of abuse in recent decades. The abbey intends to learn lessons from the report, it said when it was published on June 20. The group was led by the Neuchâtel Attorney General Pierre Aubert.
On behalf of the abbey, the group combed through archive material and spoke to 57 witnesses and 24 priests. It listed a "not inconsiderable number" of sexual misconduct cases committed between 1950 and 2022.
Scarcella had temporarily resigned from office in November 2023 to ensure the independence of the canonical investigation into the abuse scandal. He only resumed his role three and a half months ago.
