Sexual abuse in Portugal’s Catholic Church reached ‘epic proportions’

On February 13, the final report of the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church will be released.

In October, the commission had already validated testimonies of 424 witnesses, but most of them had already expired legally.

However, Pedro Strecht, chairman of the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Churchsays what they have convincingly: “The witness statements contain much identical information, a fact that reinforces the consistency of the testimonies and outlines serious situations that have existed for decades and become more apparent the further back you go in time, and in some places, they really took on endemic proportions.”

The first figures presented by the commission came as no surprise to those working in the field of sexual abuse in Portugal, including Carla Ferreira, a technical adviser to the board of the Portuguese Victim Support Association (APAV).

“It is a significant number, but we must be aware that this number is only ‘a drop’ in this area, explained Ms Ferreira. “We have already related this idea to a more general perspective of sexual abuse, which that is, we have a clear picture that only about a third of situations are formally reported.”

And Ricardo Barroso, a psychologist and researcher in the field, believes an even more alarming scenario will emerge: “I think it is to be expected, taking into account the experience of other countries and what we learn about the reality, these numbers will increase over time. coming months.”

The committee’s work to date has been widely praised. In 2022 it received an award from the APAV.

“We have a perception that bringing this kind of situation to light is always a positive development not only for those who have been the target of acts of violence, but for all of us as a society as it makes us a more observant society,” said Carla Ferreira. .

For Ricardo Barroso, what happens in the future is just as important: “Victims must understand that what happened to them cannot happen again and the Catholic Church must demonstrate clearly and fully that this will not happen again and that it will to happen.” put into practice a series of gestures, a series of concrete actions, such as denunciations, such as support from a psychotherapeutic point of view that it can offer even to the members of the Catholic Church, such as the liability of the aggressors, such as the support it can give to potential victims in the future.”

The Catholic Church said it was ready to “take appropriate action”.

There will be a plenary meeting of the Portuguese Catholic Episcopate on March 3 to further analyze the commission’s final report.