Gathered in the sanctuary city of Fatima to decide what action to take following the shock caused by the publication of an independent report on the scale of sexual violence committed by members of the clergy against minors, the Portuguese bishops published a press release, Friday, March 3.
“It is with pain that once again we ask for forgiveness from all victims of sexual assault within the Catholic Church in Portugal,” writes the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) in this text.
‘Total battle’ against pedophilia within the Church
A “public gesture” expressing this request for forgiveness will be organized in Fatima in April, and a memorial will be created on the occasion of World Youth Day, which will bring together a multitude of young Catholics in Lisbon in early August. Expected in the Portuguese capital on this occasion, the sovereign pontiff could meet victims, announced recently the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon, Américo Aguiar, in charge of the organization of this world meeting.
The Portuguese bishops had promised to take “concrete measures” in response to the findings of an independent commission they had appointed at the end of 2021 to shed light on the phenomenon of pedocrime within the Church.
After collecting more than 500 testimonies in the space of a year, this group of independent experts established that at least 4,815 minors had been victims of sexual violence in a religious context since 1950. This violence was concealed by the hierarchy of the Church in a “systemic” way, they added in their conclusions.
“We apologize to all the victims”, reacted immediately after the publication of the report the president of the CEP, the bishop of Leiria-Fatima, José Ornelas.
Faced with thousands of cases of sexual violence involving priests coming to light around the world and accusations of a cover-up by clergy, Pope Francis pledged in 2019 to wage an “all-out battle” against pedophilia within the Church.
“In the face of abuses, and especially those committed by members of the Church, it is not enough to ask for forgiveness,” however, the pope said in a message posted Thursday on Twitter.