This is the sentence handed down by the criminal court in Tours on 18 June against a 53-year-old man.
The court considered it proven that he had possessed child pornographic images.
The court stated that the offence took place between June and October 2019, when the convicted man Emmanuel C. was still a brother of the Taizé community.
It is the first judgement against a member of the brothers.
In October 2019, the police searched the former brother's premises. Emmanuel C. had been a member of the community since he was 19 years old.
The authorities became aware of him after a woman reported him for sexualised violence.
So far, all that is known about the proceedings is what the newspaper "La Nouvelle Republique" has reported about it and what the Taizé community itself says about it: on the community's website, under the heading "Our endeavour for truthfulness"to create transparency about their approach to sexualised violence.
In the summer of 2019 the first allegations against three brothers became knownwhich at the time dated back decades. Only one of the accused was still alive at the time.
The prior at the time, Brother Alois, immediately announced consequences. He told the brother who was still alive that it was better to leave the community: "He will live outside Taizé," emphasised Alois in 2020.
Due to his age, another brother is looking after him.
In 2022, the prior renewed his promise and expressed regret that "the lack of transparency and decisiveness in dealing with these cases" had exacerbated the pain of those affected.
Since 2019, at least five brothers have been accused of sexualised violence.
However, apart from the proceedings against Emmanuel C., no other court proceedings against current and former members are currently known in Taizé, the brothers told katholisch.de on Tuesday.
The case that triggered the trial of the now convicted former brother can be found under the date "October 2019" on the transparency website on abuse.
A woman confided in Brother Alois and told him that a brother had placed her in a relationship of dependency years ago. She accused him of having abused her spiritually, psychologically and sexually since 2003.
Prior immediately informed the police, charges were brought against the brother and he was remanded in custody.
Child pornography trial also a surprise for the community
At the time, Brother Alois emphasised the community's desire to clear up the matter: "My brothers and I are shocked. We will do everything we can to support the investigation. Such behaviour is incompatible with our lives. I stand by the person concerned and we will do everything we can to help them."
Emmanuel C. was released from custody in May 2020 and the investigation is still ongoing.
"Independently of this and by mutual agreement with him, it was decided that he would no longer be a member of the Communauté", according to a statement issued in June 2020.
He has since returned to work and is employed in the property sector.
Following Emmanuel C.'s departure from the community, the brothers seem to have lost track of their former confrere.
None of the updates - the last of which dates back to May 2023 - address the case. It is not known what became of the complaint of sexual assault and rape.
When asked by katholisch.de, the current Prior of Taizé, Brother Matthewsaid on Tuesday that the community itself was not aware of all the details of the trial: "We were very surprised when we learnt the reason for this conviction, as we were not informed about this part of the judicial investigation."
At the same time, he expressed relief "that the competent authorities clearly identified criminal offences and passed judgement".
Hundreds of accounts of abuse
The newspaper reveals what was negotiated in the trial in Tours: Over several years, the man reportedly stored pornographic images and videos - en masse, the court found. Several hundred of the files show sexualised violence against children. Investigators took five hard drives, each with a capacity of two terabytes, during the search.
For the now convicted man, the arrest was like a liberating blow: "When I was arrested and separated from the community, I took a step back and realised what I had done," the newspaper reports of his statement in court. The man, who became a Taizé brother at the age of 19, was unable to cope with celibacy.
Dealing with sexuality was taboo in the community.
"I could no longer stand being told what I should believe and think," he says on the record.
A defence allegation?
According to the newspaper, the judge was sceptical in view of the accounts of abuse found on the former brother.
During his time with the brothers, he had written a book about God's love.
"Brother Emmanuel invites us to discover a divine love that is greater than imagined, an ultimate meaning of life from which every human love can draw desire and strength to strive for its most intense fulfilment. In this way, he seeks a new theology of both human and divine love," says the publisher's blurb: he wants to overcome "fruitless oppositions between science and faith, psychology and theology, sexuality and spirituality".
The book was published in 2018.
The publisher has since withdrawn the book from its programme.
Emmanuel C. had been watching pornographic films since 2012, he admitted to the court. Initially out of "curiosity".
He invested the little money he received as pocket money as a brother in computer hardware, which he kept in his monk's cell. He compulsively downloaded pornographic material, he says: "on all subjects, even the most extreme ones. I didn't understand what was happening to me."
Since his arrest, he has been undergoing psychiatric treatment. The treatment has helped him to better understand his motives. "I realised that I was getting involved in something that was the exact opposite of what I was told to do in the community."
The psychiatric treatment was also the reason why the judge suspended the sentence. One of the conditions imposed on the convict is that he must not engage in any activities involving contact with minors in future, and he is also listed as an offender by the authorities.
Community expands protection concept and reports
Since Brother Alois' first statement in June 2019, the community has expanded its protection concept.
There are notices on the grounds around the monastery, which is visited by thousands of young people every week.
Those affected and whistleblowers can get in touch by email and telephone. The brothers also offer discussion groups on the topic.
"This offer is very popular. The participants want to know what happened here and the brothers are available to answer questions," said Brother Alois last December in his interview with katholisch.de at the end of his term of office as prior.
Since November 2022, the independent "Commission for Recognition and Reparation", which acts as a link between those affected and religious communities, has also had contact persons who are responsible for cases in the area of the Taizé Community.
In November 2022, an external four-person investigative team took a look at the situation in Taizé for the first time.
Two members of the "Commission for Recognition and Reparation" and two people with legal and psychological training evaluated the protection concept and the reappraisal. The brothers themselves want to publish regular "interim reports on the protection of persons in Taizé".
The first was published at the end of 2022.
The plan is for an external "reporting team" to submit new interim reports every year, always in February.
Current cases will also be discussed in these reports.
According to Brother Francis, the brothers' spokesperson, the interim reports will remain interim reports: "If we were talking about a final report, we wouldn't have understood anything. There can be no conclusion! We must remain vigilant and try to understand better and better how we can recognise signs of any violence earlier and act to prevent bad things from happening," he told katholisch.de on Tuesday.
When asked about the current status of the investigation, he remained general: "These are long processes in which it is important to listen to those affected, to learn from what they tell us and to be able to draw the right conclusions."