The Portuguese Catholic Church will financially compensate victims of sexual abuse by priests
2024-04-12 15:43:37
TiranaPost
The Catholic Church of Portugal has announced that it will financially compensate victims of sexual violence within the church and that the amounts will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
A February 2023 report funded by the Church concluded that at least 4,815 children had been sexually abused over seven decades, mostly by priests.
The authors of that report stressed that these results are only the "tip of the iceberg" and the president of the commission, Pedro Strech, added that more than a hundred priests suspected of abuse are still in office within the Church.
A month later, the church announced a series of steps to combat sexual abuse, but was criticized because the steps were not considered strong enough.
Antonio Grosso, co-founder of a group that unites victims of abuse by members of the Coracao Silenciado Catholic Church, criticized the approach.
"I don't know what unit of measurement they will use to measure human suffering." People will have to tell their stories again to see if they deserve more or less cents," he told Reuters, arguing that all victims should receive the same amount.
