Child psychiatrist Pedro Strecht
An independent commission looking into sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church said Tuesday it had documented cases involving at least 4,815 victims in Portugal.
The commission, set up by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference to examine violations in recent decades, added that this figure represents only a small part of the real number.
In the introduction to the report, the committee’s chair, child psychiatrist Pedro Strecht, described his aim as “giving voice to the silence” of the victims.
He paid tribute to the hundreds who have approached commission staff to testify.
“They have a voice and they have a name,” he said.
The commission documented a total of 564 experiences of people who said they were victims of abuse by priests or other church officials. The report looked at cases dating back to 1950.
In many cases, testimonies indicated that other minors had been abused, thus making an estimate of the number of other victims.
During his presentation, Streicht quoted the testimonies of the victims, emphasizing the impact of the assault on them. He referred to the “black hole” that one of the victims said he used to live in.
The head of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference, José Ornelas, Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, is scheduled to comment on the results of the investigation on Monday.
On Sunday, he said he had received the report “with gratitude” and that an extraordinary session scheduled for March 3 would discuss the best way to achieve “justice” for the victims.
According to the committee, 25 cases have been referred to the Public Prosecution Office. Many other cases fell due to the statute of limitations.
Among the report’s recommendations is that in cases of alleged sexual abuse of minors, the number of years during which victims can file a complaint should be raised to thirty years, instead of the current 25-year statute of limitations.
At the end of the year 2021, the Portuguese church authorities commissioned Strecht to form a team to investigate the phenomenon of assaulting minors in their ranks.
In April 2022, Cardinal Manuel Clemente, Patriarch of Lisbon and Archbishop of the Portuguese Church, said he was ready to “admit past mistakes” and “ask forgiveness” from the victims. Monday attended the presentation of the report of the independent commission.
In 2019, Pope Francis promised, following revelations that priests had committed thousands of sexual assaults around the world and accusations that members of the clergy had covered them up, he would launch a “comprehensive battle” once morest child abuse within the Church.
Before Portugal, several countries worked to clarify the reality of this phenomenon, including France, Ireland, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands.
It is expected that Pope Francis will visit the Portuguese capital on the occasion of World Youth Day in early August, and during this visit he may meet with victims, according to what was announced by the Assistant Bishop of Lisbon, Amerigo Aguiar, who is in charge of organizing this global event for Catholic youth.
