a page turns for the historic site, the establishment is reorganized

The future of the Notre-Dame de Bétharram establishment is sealed. “We wish to close the site and allow the current educational community to continue its commitment,” clarified Guillaume Prévost at a press conference on January 26.

This statement aims to dispel confusion about the future of the site. On January 22, on RTL, Pierre-Vincent Guéret, president of the National Federation of Catholic Education Management Organizations (Fnogec), bluntly stated: “Bétharram will close. This is not an option. » A few hours later, the general secretariat of Catholic Education qualified these remarks in a press release, assuring that there was “no question of closing the establishment at this stage”.

A closed site, a maintained establishment

Faced with around thirty journalists closely following the case, those responsible finally agreed on the same line: it is not the establishment which is closing, but the site which until now welcomed the college students of Notre-Dame de Bétharram.

A place that has become inseparable from the physical and sexual violence committed between the end of the 1950s and the 2000s, and which gave rise to more than 200 complaints.

The end of a symbol to attempt appeasement

Located in Lestelle‑Bétharram, the site belongs to the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Bétharram, which ran the establishment until 2010. Since then, it had been attached to the Le Beau Rameau school group, placed under the supervision of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross since July 2025. The announced decision is therefore part of a transfer: the 160 students and the eleven internal schools will be hosted on the existing Beau Rameau site, where there are already an elementary school, a general high school and a vocational high school.

For those responsible for Catholic Education, it is a question of marking the end of a “symbol”. “We cannot build the future on such ruins. Preserving children, parents and professionals requires us to turn this page. Their future is in the Beau Rameau school group,” insisted Pierre-Vincent Guéret.

The move, the date of which must be announced before the summer, represents a significant project, estimated at between 2 and 2.5 million euros. It will be necessary to create new classrooms, guarantee sufficient capacity in the refectory and adapt the sports infrastructure to accommodate all students.

Presenting itself as a united front, Catholic Education thus affirms that it wants to “take its responsibilities” and provide a first response to the victims. But also to further support educational communities, like that of Beau Rameau. “I met hurt, traumatized people, who experienced things in terms of media pressure…”, notes Guillaume Prévost, his voice firm. He also invited Édwige Duvieu, director of the Beau Rameau school group, to speak at his press conference. Quite rare presence.

She wanted to thank “all Catholic Education, families and local stakeholders”, saluting “an invested and dynamic team”. The director then left the conference discreetly, suitcase in hand, to go to Béarn, where she must work on new registrations.