Portuguese abuse survivors tell bishops to stop ‘revictimization’

A 2023 report concluded there have been at least 4,815 victims of sex abuse in the Portuguese church in that period, but the real number could be higher.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – An association of survivors abuse in Portugal has complained to the bishops’ conference earlier this week about the way how the Portuguese Church has been handling reporting and compensation of victims, and asked the prelates to stop “revictimization.”

The meeting between the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (known by the acronym CEP) and the Associação Coração Silenciado (“Silenced Heart Association”), which brings together dozens of victims, occurred in Coimbra on July 10.

António Grosso, one of the association’s founders, told Crux that the group expressed to CEP its concerns about the church’s management of the ecclesial abuse crisis.

“We talked to them, and we hope they will change their stance. We don’t need more words for the covers of the newspapers. We need them to be proactive,” he said.

After years of perceived inaction concerning reports of sex abuse in the church, the Portuguese episcopate faced pressure from a movement organized by lay Catholics in 2021 demanding a serious inquiry on the scandals.

At the end of that year, the bishops decided to launch an independent commission to investigate cases of ecclesial abuse from 1950 to the present day.

Formed by professionals from different disciplines, including psychiatry and the justice system, the panel received over 500 contributions from victims of different regions and ages. The final report concluded there have been at least 4,815 victims of sex abuse in the Portuguese church in that period, but the real number could be higher.

The commission concluded its work in 2023, but critics say the episcopate failed to clearly present to victims and to Portuguese society how it intended to handle the volumne of abuse claims.

“The reaction from the bishops to the report was very negative and shocked not only the Catholics, but the Portuguese society as a whole,” Grosso said.

Some bishops tried to downplay the discoveries of the commission, while others made it clear they were not even considering the possibility of compensating victims, he said.

“Probably, the church didn’t imagine that so many victims would come up and tell their stories. And it also didn’t know that TV stations – especially [major networks such as] SIC and RTP – would interview victims and present their cases to a mass audience,” Grosso said.

Observers say the Portuguese episcopate gave the impression that it was not willing to take any concrete measure to address the issue of ecclesial abuse, and the commission’s report wouldn’t have any consequence.

Later in 2023, however, the bishops’ conference announced it would establish a new group – named Vita – in order to respond to victims. Its mandate is to receive reports and to accompany and help each victim, while also striving to to prevent new cases. The group was launched without a fixed term of operations.

In May, after one year of activity, Grupo Vita announced that it had been approached by 98 victims. Eighteen were receiving psychological attention, and 32 said they would pursue financial compensations.

In April, the conference announced that all victims wishing to be compensated should formalize their requests by December, sending a letter describing what kind of abuse they suffered.

Meanwhile, as the press continued to cover abuse cases and inviting victims such as Grosso to give interviews, he and other outspoken victims decided to create an association to gather people impacted by ecclesial abuse and to fight for their cause. Associação Coração Silenciado was founded last summer, and Grosso said it’s been contacted by dozens of victims till now.

The association first requested a meeting with CEP officials in November 2023. In January, it had its initial encounter with the episcopate and was promised that it would happen every two months. The second meeting, however, only happened this week.

Grosso said that he and his colleagues were told by Bishop José Ornelas of Leiria-Fátima, CEP’s president, that codes which had been used to identify reports given to the independent commission between 2022-2023 have been destroyed, allegedly to prevent possible leaks of personal information.

“That means a victim who reported his or her case to the independent commission and now wants to pursue a compensation will have to describe the abuse case all over again,” Grosso said.

People who approached the independent commission between 2022-2023 “obviously hoped for a concrete consequence, but now everybody discovered that no, that testimony doesn’t have any concrete consequences,” he said.

“Not everybody is ready to keep remembering the abuse suffered years ago every now and then. It’s painful. It’s a revictimization,” Grosso added.

The association has come out against the bishops’ conference plan to evaluate each case and then determine individual financial compensation.

“How are they willing to measure the amount of suffering each victim has? Would it be with a scale or with a measuring tape? It’s completely absurd,” Grosso said.

The victims’ association argues that establishing different compensations for victims is a way of dividing them, going against a sense of fraternity and equality.

“A person could even be envious of the compensation received by another victim,” Grosso said.

In his opinion, the episcopate should establish an equal amount of money to be paid to each victim that requests compensation.

“We also asked them to promote a TV campaign and provide an email and a phone number through which all victims can request compensation,” he said.

Grosso said conference officials listened to the association and promised to think about the requests.

“It’s important the bishops understand that it’s not enough to apologize. Something has to be done. But the victims are not beggars. We don’t need to ask for their money. They are the ones who should look for us,” Grosso said.