The Episcopal Commission of Portugal (CEP) announced that they will begin working against child sexual abuse in a church in Portugal. This decision is due to the results of an investigation, which yielded 4,815 complaints of child abuse. 

The allegations were directed at priests and members of Portugal’s Roman Catholic Church for the past 70 years. However, they will not remove any of the accused from office until the accusations are proven. 

The report was released in February and more than 100 priests are still active. The church has a list of alleged abusers and will launch an investigation. At the moment, one of the measures that the CEP will take is to provide psychological and psychiatric assistance to the victims. However, one of the clarifications they made was that they will not pay reparations to them.

Premier Christian News:

Keith Porteous Wood, president of Britain’s National Secular Society and a longtime advocate for victims of clerical abuse, told Reuters that church-funded commissions faced “obstructions.”

“Researching 70 years in a year is simply unrealistic, and one can’t help but wonder if that imposition … it was actually an attempt to ensure that as little reporting as possible,” Wood said.

 

On the other hand, the CEP will create a group backed by the church in Portugal to continue listening to the victims. Church officials mention that there will be “zero tolerance” towards abusers and will try to clarify all cases.

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