Parliament this Wednesday unanimously approved the hearing of, among others, the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse of Minors in the Church, the President of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference and the Minister of Justice.
The requests of PS, PSD and Chega were approved unanimously – with votes from the present parties PS, PSD, Chega and BE – in the parliamentary committee for Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees.
The three parties requested to hear the Independent Commission for the Study of Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church about the report’s conclusions.
At the suggestion of the PS Also approved was the hearing of the Portuguese Association for Victim Support, the National Commission for the Promotion of the Rights and Protection of Children and Youth and the Association “Quebrar o Silêncio”, on the “specific features of the victimization of child victims of sexual abuse “. abuse, about their needs and the rights they should have acquired”.
To the initial request, the PS added the request to hear the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference (CEP) and the National Organ of Escutas.
The parliamentary committee also approved a PSD proposal to include, in addition to the independent committee, the Instituto de Apoio à Criança (IAC), the National Commission for the Promotion of the Rights and Protection of Children and also the Minister of Justice, Catarina Sarmento , to hear. e Castro, based on the recommendations of the independent commission, “some of which require legislative intervention”.
Also Chega submitted a request to hear not only the Independent Commission, but also the Minister of Justice and also the President of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, José Ornelas, from the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Manuel Clemente, to “expand the perspective of the Catholic church on the heralded paradigm shift on this issue”.
In the debate, the deputy of the PS Cláudia Santos stated that the independent commission’s report revealed “a victimization of children over many decades”, which also “used “aggressors, mostly men, of the Catholic Church who had the power they had, with children, to commit very serious crimes against them”, who “caused damage that was never finally healed”.
The deputy defended the importance of “preventing future crimes” and called for deep reflection on the subject, as well as the search for “solutions, namely in terms of risk assessment programs and the implementation of regulatory compliance programs within organizations that are dealing with children”.
Speaking to the PSD, Paula Cardoso said the report’s conclusions were “a punch to the stomach” and that “one cannot completely ignore the recommendations in that document”, emphasizing that “some need legislative intervention”.
“In that sense, and to help us move down this legislative path, we believe it is very helpful to listen to these entities and their contribution is extremely relevant,” he stressed.
Bruno Nunes, from Chega, defended that given “the abject picture” in the report, “the Assembly of the Republic cannot excuse itself from listening, legislating and taking a stand for the future”.
“The latest statements made may add further confusion and an increase in bad image about a secular institution,” he said.
Joana Mortágua, from BE, deplored crimes “without reparation” and criticized the Catholic Church’s response “by denying its responsibilities as an institution”.
The Independent Commission for the Study of Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church validated 512 testimonials, which, by extrapolation, point to at least 4,815 victims. Twenty-five cases were forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service, which opened 15 investigations, of which nine were closed.
The commission presented to the Portuguese Episcopal Conference a list of alleged abusers, some of them active, which sent the decision to remove priests suspected of abuse to the dioceses and rejected the award of compensation to the victims.
On Sunday, Lisbon’s Cardinal Patriarch Manuel Clemente lifted the suspension of alleged priests abusing minors without “proven facts, subject to contradiction” and a canonical process conducted by the Holy See.
Psychiatrist Daniel Sampaio denied on Monday that the church had received a list of names of abusive priests without having more information about the reported cases, describing the bishops’ position as “slowing down the issue.”
Source: DN
