2023-08-02 22:52:04
Pope Francis met 13 victims of sexual violence committed within the Portuguese Catholic Church on Wednesday, on the first day of his trip to Lisbon to participate in World Youth Day, the Vatican announced in a brief statement.
Six months after the publication of a damning report which shook Portugal, the sovereign pontiff had raised the subject before the clergy of the country at the end of the day, calling on them to listen to “the cry of pain of the victims”.
Before the priests, deacons and bishops gathered at the Jerónimos Monastery, Jorge Bergoglio spoke of “the disappointment and anger that some feel towards the Church, sometimes because of our bad witness and the scandals that have disfigured its face “. According to him, these scandals “call for a humble and constant purification, starting from the cry of pain of the victims, always to welcome and listen”.
A “systemic” concealment
In February, a report commissioned by the Portuguese bishops’ conference, but carried out by a commission 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 concluded after having collected more than 500 testimonies in a country where 80% of the population of ten million inhabitants define themselves as Catholic.
The ecclesiastical hierarchy apologized to the victims and recognized that it was necessary “to change the culture of the Church” but, according to a survey, 68% of those questioned considered that its image had deteriorated.
A painful challenge
Before the pope’s arrival in Lisbon, a victims’ support group put up three large posters in town evoking the “more than 4,800 children abused by the Catholic Church in Portugal”. The initiative of these anonymous citizens was intended to “fight against the erasure of victims from the media agenda, focused on the celebration of an institution that dooms them to silence”, they explained on their website.
From Ireland to Germany to the United States, the proliferation of sex scandals in the Church has been one of the most painful challenges for Pope Francis. Advocating “zero tolerance”, he met several times with victims and created an advisory commission for the protection of minors, which was eventually integrated into the Curia, but was highly criticized.
Like the lifting of papal secrecy on the sexual violence of the clergy and the obligation for religious and laity to report any case to their hierarchy, the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church has also multiplied the measures, but the secrecy of confession remains absolute.
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