The prime minister, António Costa, expressed solidarity with the president of the republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has been the target of criticism after saying he did not consider the number of 424 testimonies received “extremely high”. to the Independent Commission for the Study of Child Sexual Abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church.
António Costa sided with the head of state when he said there is an “unacceptable interpretation” of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s words.
“We all know the President of the Republic well and we know very well that for a person like Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a case of child sexual abuse would be absolutely intolerable.as it is for society as a whole,” said Costa, expressing “solidarity” with the head of state.
“It’s a very misinterpretation that has been made, I find it unacceptable. I wanted to publicly express my solidarity with the President of the Republic”underlined the head of government in Viseu, where he will speak at an AICEP conference Wednesday afternoon.
“I have no doubt that if it were a single case, just one, it would be something completely unbearable for the President of the Republic, as for the rest of society,” the prime minister stressed. “These are cases where the violation of children’s rights has nothing to do with quantity,” he continued. “It could be one, two thousand, each case is a case of enormous seriousness. The president didn’t want to devalue him anyway.”
Costa recalled that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had, in fact, issued a note explaining that what he said had to do with “the surprise that no more cases have been revealed, that there have been no more reports of situations that certainly occurred. and that still are not registered”.
The prime minister admitted that “sometimes we all don’t use the best expression in political life, often we don’t interpret ourselves in the best way”. “In a case like this and with this seriousness, I couldn’t resist publicly expressing my solidarity with Mr. President,” Costa continued.
The head of government emphasized his decades-long personal knowledge of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and how the Portuguese know him by saying that the President of the Republic did not minimize the number of complaints that the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse did not want against women Children in already received the Portuguese Catholic Church.
When asked whether the head of state owes an apology after the statements he made, the prime minister did not hesitate: “Whoever made this interpretation owes an apology to the President of the Republic”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa sparked criticism and outrage in the political class when he said on Tuesday that he did not consider the number of 424 complaints reached by the Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church “extremely high”. “.
He later justified his statements in a statement published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic, in which he emphasized, “once again, the importance of the work” of the commission, “although I regret that more testimonies were not given to him, as this number does not seem particularly high given the probably sad reality both in Portugal and around the world”.
“Several reports speak of much higher numbers in different countries, and unfortunately there were also much higher numbers in Portugal,” the note reads.
In a conversation with RTP, Marcelo emphasized that it was not the intention to devalue the complaints, on the contrary. “These 424 cases are invaluable, especially for those who had the courage to complain. I think it is short. I am convinced that many more will follow,” said the president of the republic.
By saying “not high,” the number of about 400 cases is “no devaluation,” he continued. “It is to be thought that unfortunately my expectations were much higher. It seems to me an abbreviation for what I think was the phenomenon in Portugal and in the world,” he stated.
PR should be dedramatized without forgetting research, says Jerónimo de Sousa
The PCP’s Secretary-General on Wednesday considered that the statements of the President of the Republic on complaints of sexual abuse of minors in the Portuguese Catholic Church “should be supported, dedramatized, without forgetting that it is necessary to carry out the investigation.” to feed “.
“I want to convey that we regard the matter as very sensitive and that the treatment to be given to this episode, to these statements, must of course be supported, dedramatized, without forgetting that it is necessary to carry out the appropriate, concrete investigation”, Jerónimo de Sousa told journalists in Palácio de Belém, in Lisbon.
When asked whether he agrees that the head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, owes his apologies to the victims for describing the number of complaints in Portugal as relatively low, Jerónimo de Sousa replied that “the PCP usually does not lead to the President of the Republic”.
“More than apologizing, the question is: there is a problem, there is a case. We have to conduct the investigation and of course draw the consequences from these announced, proven facts and of course with the consequences that there are.”he added.
Faced with the urging of journalists to comment directly on the statements of the President of the Republic, he replied: “I did not want to classify, but I believe that this statement does not correspond to the position that our party has”.
The PCP’s secretary general addressed the need to conduct a “count” and then “and of course take the consequences of these facts”.
“It is a matter that in fact deserves answers and treatment with depth and determination. We admit that if what are complaints, suspicions are confirmed, there must of course be consequences for those who practiced them,” emphasized Jerónimo de Sousa.
Source: DN
