The President of the Republic defended today that precautionary measures should be taken in cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and that this includes "removing from the exercise of functions or pastoral responsibilities who should be removed".
«I understand that it is such an obvious question, so obvious, so obvious of prevention and taking precautionary measures to safeguard possible new victims and to safeguard those eventually involved, that I think that a careful reflection will lead to what is done in a first moment, in my view incomprehensibly, it was not done», said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
In Gondomar, in the Porto district, on the sidelines of the Extraordinary Congress of the Portuguese Firefighters League, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa defended, in statements to journalists, that «there are things that have to be done and the sooner the better».
“It was said by the Episcopal Conference that the reflection continues. By continuing, reflection must mean paving the way for what has been done and could be done in another way", he said.
Asked about decisions by some Dioceses not to remove priests referred to as suspected of having sexually abused minors, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa did not respond to specific cases or specify which Dioceses he is referring to, but reiterated that those who have responsibilities must be removed.
For the President of the Republic, the first immediate measure is "not to take more time on everything that cannot be wasted".
“Second, take full responsibility. Third, to take preventive measures, which means removing from the exercise of functions or pastoral responsibilities those who should be removed by these preventive measures and showing the will to repair the victims, "he added.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also showed concerns about the future: «It is evident that concern about the future must exist because it is a national problem», he concluded.
In an interview with RTP and Público, released on Thursday night, the President of the Republic had already defended that the Church should take preventive measures to avoid new sexual abuses in cases where suspects had already been identified and expressed disappointment with the Episcopal Conference.
The Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse against Children in the Portuguese Catholic Church, set up by decision of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference and coordinated by child psychiatrist Pedro Strecht, validated 512 testimonies, pointing, by extrapolation, to at least 4.815 victims.
The testimonies refer to cases that occurred between 1950 and 2022, the time span covered by the commission's work.
The commission delivered a list of alleged active abusers to the Portuguese Episcopal Conference.
In the report, released in February, the commission warned that the data collected in ecclesiastical archives on the incidence of sexual abuse should be understood as the “tip of the iceberg”.
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