It is a well-established fact that sexual abuse of minors is rampant across churches in the world and the Catholic Church clergy, in particular, have been found guilty repeatedly by independent investigators. The independent commission, which published its report on Monday (February 13), spoke to more than 500 survivors last year.
The commission noted that it is mostly the Catholic church padres who have indulged in the sexual abuse of children since 1950. The commission, set up by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, said that a minimum of 4815 children have been victims of sexual abuse over 70 years. The final report contains validated testimonies of sexual abuse from 1950 to 2022.
Pedro Strecht, the Commission’s coordinator and president, said that they received 564 testimonies of victims abused by padres or other church officials between 1950 and 2022 and out of these 512 testimonies have been validated. “The testimonies point to a much more extensive network of victims, calculated in a minimum, a very minimum number of 4815 victims. It is not possible to quantify the total number of crimes given that some victims were abused several times”, Strecht said at the press briefing.
The commission further stated that 25 cases have been handed over to public prosecutors while many others fell outside the statute of limitations. Also, the list of the abusers, who are alive and identified, would be sent to the Catholic Church and Judicial authorities by the end of February.
One of the important recommendations made in the report is that, in cases of alleged sexual abuse of minors, the existing provision for victims to be able to make a criminal complaint until the age of 25 should be raised to 30, even if the statute of limitation applies.
Bishop Jose Ornelas ‘apologized’ to the victims while promising to work for transparency and justice. “We have heard things that we cannot ignore. It is a dramatic situation that we are living in. The Bishops’ Conference is not in denial about the consequences of the outcome. Child sex abuse is a ‘heinous crime’. It is an open wound which ‘pains’ and ’embarrasses’ us”, Ornelas said.
Despite the Bishop’s ‘assurances’ there is reason to be sceptical. “What Pope (Francis) says (is)… abusers of minors cannot hold positions within the ministry as long as it is proven that the person is an abuser,” Ornelas said, adding the Church would not conduct a ‘witch hunt’ against its members which begs the question whether action would be taken or the report simply brushed under the carpet. Portuguese bishops will meet on March 3 to consider implementing ‘more efficient and appropriate mechanisms’ to prevent future abuses, Ornelas said.
The commission noted that this was just the tip of the iceberg and added that more than 100 padres suspected of child sexual abuse are active in church roles in the country. “There is an approximate (number of accused priests) and it will clearly be more than 100,” child psychiatrist Pedro Strecht told SIC television. Strecht said those on the list should be removed from their roles or at least should be banned from interacting with children and teenagers during the investigation.
In the meanwhile, the U.S.-based support group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) issued a statement asking Portuguese church officials to prominently publish the name, photo, place of residence, and work history of abusive clergy. The statement called for immediate action including the dismissal of any bishop, chancellor, vicar general, or other church hierarchs who is complicit in what has happened.
In 2021, The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE), an independent investigation set up by the Church in France, said that French Catholic clergy could have abused at least 10,000 minors and other vulnerable people since 1950.
It must be mentioned that victims are yet to receive justice in Indonesia. Victims of sexual abuse and harassment in the Indonesian Catholic Church face thick walls of silence, secrecy and denial, having to bear trauma while the priests who they have accused remain on a moral pedestal.
In May 2019, Pope Francis issued global rules for reporting sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, mandating for the first time that all dioceses set up systems for reporting abuse and cover-ups. The rules require all Catholic dioceses around the world to have a “public and accessible” system in place. The norms cover internal Catholic Church procedure, not the issue of reporting abuse or cover-up to civil authorities, and must be followed by all dioceses.
