New complaint against French priest-therapist

The latest alleged victim of Father Tony Anatrella, a priest and psychoanalyst who has been the subject of accusations by his former patients for more than 15 years, was a minor at the time of the events in question. 

Father Anatrella was well-known in Rome as an advisor to several Vatican offices. His ecclesiastical counselor, who has consistently denied any inappropriate gesture by his client, did not respond to questions from La Croix.

Anatrella, 77, was earlier accused of having practiced "body therapy" in order to "heal" homosexuality and of having been involved in sexual abuse. On the basis of information gathered during a preliminary investigation, Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris had ruled that "no priestly ministry will henceforth be granted to him." 

The alleged events

A new complaint has been lodged against Father Tony Anatrella, the well-known Catholic priest and therapist, who was recently prohibited from ministry by the archbishop of Paris.

This sanction was imposed in July 2018 following a series of testimonies received by the Paris diocese from several former clients of Anatrella, who were adults at the time of the alleged events and who reported that sexual assaults occurred during consultations with him.

The complainant in the latest case says he became a victim in 1974 when he was a 14-year-old minor.

“I did a lot of stupid things at that time and my mother picked me up from the police after I tried to steal a moped,” Pascal B., 58, a divorced father of three children and grandfather of two, told La Croix International.

“My father was an alcoholic and my mother, who did not know what to do with me, sent me to see Tony Anatrella, who had celebrated the marriage of my brother,” he said. “A year later, he separated from his wife and became (Anatrella’s) personal secretary and he still is.”

At the end of the appointment at the office of Father Anatrella, who was then chaplain to the Arago high school in Paris’ 12th district, he requested Pascal B to show him his penis and proceeded to masturbate him.

“What could I say to him?” Pascal, who has been hard of hearing since birth, asked. “I said nothing and simply got dressed without looking at him. I felt completely lost and crushed.”

The teenager, who was then an apprentice carpenter and cabinetmaker, said he had buried the memory and even continued to attend the chaplaincy at the Arago High School, where Father Anatrella “once proposed a relaxation session in underpants.”

Subsequently, Pascal drifted into the drug scene and contemplated suicide before eventually marrying and having three children, all of whom were baptized by Father Anatrella.

“When he came to dinner at our house, (my father) gave him him the place at the head of the table,” Pascal said.

When he began to experience marriage difficulties, on his brother’s advice, Pascal, who was then 31, again turned to Father Anatrella.

The latter proposed a bodily therapy including nude massages, which Pascal suspended after three sessions, he said.

Soon after, he opened up to his family about his adolescent experiences.

“My brother did not believe me and told me it was an American method called ‘Rolfing’,” Pascal added, saying that he then broke definitively with Father Anatrella.

He said he had also confided what had happened to him in 1974 to his best friend of the time.

At that stage, no complaint had been made against Father Anatrella, with the first victim only alerting the Diocese of Paris during the late 1990s.

Pascal’s friend, who had not been in contact with him since the 1970s, also confirmed his story in an interview with La Croix International.

“I remember very well that he first spoke of it when we were about fifteen or sixteen,” François-Xavier de M., now a business leader in the Paris region, said.

“At the time, we were both a bit astonished, then when he was 20, all that came back to him and he began to go down,” he continued. “Pascal was perhaps more fragile owing to his handicap and he had difficulty in dealing with his emotions but what he says is true.”

“Like all of us at the time, we had complete confidence in the chaplain,” he said.

Why speak out now?

Pascal B. previously shared his story with Golias magazine. However, the alleged events had passed the legal time limit for prosecution.

Nevertheless, justice officers interviewed three alleged victims before closing the file without further action in 2007.

On the other hand, Pascal did not contact the diocese. And “no one from the Church contacted me after my testimony either,” he noted.

At the end of 2016 when the La Parole Libérée (Free Speaking) group was launched in Lyon by victims of Father Preynat, one of his daughters pressed him to do something.

In the end, it was only when the diocese announced that it had imposed sanctions on Father Anatrella in July 2018 that he contacted the Lyon group as well as the Diocese of Paris.

Contacted by La Croix, the diocese confirmed that it met with Pascal and his lawyer, Nadia Debbach on Feb. 1.

“His testimony was recorded, the civil authorities informed and the testimony transmitted to Rome,” a diocesan spokesperson said. “The file is not closed and the process is still under way in Rome.”

What response from Father Anatrella?

Father Bernard Dupuy-Montbrun, the ecclesiastical counselor of Father Anatrella, declined to respond to questions from La Croix on the matter.

Father Anatrella has always denied any inappropriate gesture, alleging a campaign against him because of his writings on homosexuality, his opposition to civil unions and the Mariage pour tous (Marriage for all) movement.

However, following complaints lodged by three alleged victims, Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit issued a canonical “reprimand” to Father Anatrella, now aged 77, prohibiting him from exercising any ministry, hearing confession or providing therapy, announced in a press release on July 4, 2018.

Lawyers subsequently lodged an unsuccessful appeal seeking withdrawal of the sanctions.

Father Anatrella then turned to Rome by means of an administrative procedure known as hierarchical recourse, which was also rejected in March 2019.

He now has until the end of the month of June to lodge a final judicial appeal to the Apostolic Signature.

Rome will now investigate the latest complaint lodged by the archdiocese.