‘Tip Of The Iceberg’: Portuguese Catholic Church Accused Of Sexually Abusing More Than 4,800 Children

A panel of independent experts examining child abuse in the Roman Catholic Church found that over 4,800 children were abused sexually by priests in the last 70 years.

Monday’s 500-page final report of the Independent Committee for the Study of Child Abuse and the Catholic Church was released by the Committee. The Associated PressThe Portuguese bishops established the Commission for Historical Abuse in Portugal (CIPA) just over a decade ago to investigate the historical abuse in the church between 1950 and the present.

So far, 512 victims have filed accusations.

Pedro Strecht, a child psychiatrist, was the leader of the commission. Reuters An additional 4,815 children were abused. “the tip of the iceberg.”

“(We want) to pay a sincere tribute to those who were abuse victims during their childhood and dared to give a voice to silence,” Strecht said. “They are much more than a statistic.”

Six psychiatrists were part of the panel, as well as a former Supreme Court judge and a social worker. They interviewed more than 500 victims and researched old church documents. They also spoke with bishops and other clergy.

Included in the report, the commission found a set of staggering statistics alleging 77% of the abusers were priests, 77% of the victims didn’t report the abuse, and only 4% went to local authorities.

Another statistic showed that 48% of victims who came forward about being abused were first-time victims, according to the Associated Press. 53% of victims were men.

Most sexual abuses occurred between the ages of 10 and 14 years old, with the youngest victims being 2 years.

Strecht told Reuters the victims were abused in Catholic schools, churches, priests’ homes, and confessionals, among other locations. According to the report, the abuse took place in “real blackspots.”

The report does not identify specific locations.

The panel members decided not to publish the names of victims or the alleged abusers. However, the AP stated that bishops would be provided with a list of people accused of abuse who are still active in the church at the end of each month.

On Monday, senior church officials listened as panel members read some accounts of the allegations. The Associated Press described them as “a serious matter.” “vivid and shocking.”

The panel stated that 25 allegations had been submitted to the prosecutors for their review. The majority of the cases were not subject to the statute of limitations. However, the commission stated that the law should be amended for crimes committed more than three decades ago in order to avoid legal proceedings.

Jose Ornelas, head of the Bishops’ Conference, told a news conference after the final report’s presentation, saying the details were an “open wound that hurts and shames us.”

“We apologize to all the victims,” Ornelas, also under investigation by the public prosecutors, is accused of covering up child sexual abuse at a Mozambique Orphanage in 2011.

The Portuguese bishops will meet next month in order to review the report.

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