The Portuguese bishops announce this Friday, March 3, the measures to be taken in response to the report on sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church, which validated 512 of the 564 testimonies received in 10 months.
The bishops meet during the day in Fátima, in a plenary assembly of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP), and present their conclusions at 18 pm, in a press conference, with the announcement of immediate measures by the Catholic hierarchy being expected.
The Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse of Children in the Catholic Church, which validated 512 of the 564 testimonies received, pointing, by extrapolation, to a minimum number of victims of the order of 4.815, warned from the outset that the data "should be understood as The Tip of the iceberg».
On the very day of the presentation of the report, February 13, the president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) José Ornelas recognized that the results cannot be ignored and admitted that he was facing a «dramatic situation» that will be difficult to overcome.
In its report, the Independent Commission left some suggestions to the Church, namely the constitution of a new commission to continue the «study and follow-up of the theme», with internal and external members of the Church; the adoption of the “moral duty of denunciation, on the part of the Church, and collaboration with the Public Ministry” or the “effective request for forgiveness regarding the situations that happened in the past and their materialization”.
The «continued psychological support to past, current and future victims» is also seen as a responsibility of the Church, in conjunction with the National Health Service.
On Thursday, a letter signed by hundreds of Catholics also asked the Portuguese bishops for short-term measures, including that the "cover" bishops, if any, withdraw from their functions.
The letter, revealed by the digital newspaper 7Margens, also asks that “all abusers who are currently at the service of the Church” be preventively suspended “whenever there is minimally credible evidence of abuse” and dismissed from functions when considered guilty “in the light of Christian morality , irrespective of any legal proceedings'.
The immediate creation of ways to provide psychological, psychiatric and spiritual support and help to victims of sexual abuse who wish to do so, the preparation of a solemn and collective moment to ask for forgiveness and the creation of a new independent commission to continue the work of the previous one are, according to 7Margens, some of the measures that more Catholic institutions and people propose to the Portuguese bishops.
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