According to an independent investigation, at least 5,000 children have been sexually abused in Portugal’s Catholic Church over the past seven decades. The committee of inquiry said the number of victims confirmed without a doubt was 4,815 when it published its report on Monday in Lisbon. But there have probably been many more cases since the 1950s, because the 4815 is “an absolute minimum number,” said committee coordinator Pedro Strecht.
According to the respected child psychiatrist, the victims were on average 11.2 years young. 25 abuse cases have already been sent to the public prosecutor, but some of them are already statute-barred, said ex-justice minister and committee member Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio.
By the end of the month, the church and authorities will be given a list of the names of all suspected perpetrators who are still active as clergy in the Catholic Church.
The committee started its work in early 2022 after Portugal was rocked by the disclosure of many abuse cases. A total of more than 500 witnesses were heard, Strecht told journalists and church representatives. Most abuse cases occurred between 1960 and 2000.
According to the information, almost half (43 percent) of the interviewed victims of various ages spoke to the committee for the first time after often decades of silence about their suffering. Only 4 percent of the victims reported it at some point. In 27 percent of all cases, the abuse lasted longer than a year.
The report quotes victims with harrowing statements. “When I told my mother, she didn’t believe me. And she even said I was guilty,” said one woman who was abused as a child. One male victim reported waking up “with[the priest’s]penis between his legs and completely dirty.”
The President of the Bishops’ Conference of Portugal (CEP), Dom José Ornelas, said in a first reaction that one was “deeply concerned by the pain of those who have suffered”. A special session of the CEP will be held on March 3 on this subject. They now want to “focus all attention on the victims of abuse”.
Financial compensation of up to 60,000 euros per victim is under discussion, but victims and their spokesmen indignantly rejected this sum. (dpa)
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