Catholic Church in Portugal to Give Financial Compensation for Victims of Abuse as Announced by the Portuguese Bishops' Conference
Fátima, April 11, 2024 (Ecclesia) – The Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) today announced the creation of a fund for “financial compensation” for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
“The Assembly unanimously approved the attribution of financial compensation, on a supplementary basis, to victims of sexual abuse against children and vulnerable adults in the context of the Catholic Church in Portugal”, indicates the conclusive note of the 209th Plenary Assembly of the episcopate, which took place in Fátima since Monday.
During the meeting it was decided to create “a fund of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference for this purpose and which will count on the solidarity contribution of all dioceses”.
At a press conference, the president of CEP said that the rules on the attribution of these compensations will be announced soon.
“There is a fundamental team for value assessments that will be created in these days”, said D. José Ornelas.
Regarding the new fund, the bishop of Leiria-Fátima highlighted that a period of listening to victims is opening up, to “arrive at a joint assessment”, with “criteria that are guided by justice”.
“The process has been decided, structured, and will take the collection of requests until the end of this year”, he added.
The cases, he maintained, “will be those that arrive”, so currently the fund “does not have a fixed ceiling”.
“I don’t see that this has to be slow”, he observed, highlighting the importance of “homogeneous criteria” that allow speed.
According to the head of the CEP, the “suppletive” nature of this fund, which goes beyond the direct responsibility of those who committed the crimes, aims to reach cases that “have already prescribed”, in the light of civil law and canon law.
“We are not simply taking on a judicial issue, with judicial criteria”, he insisted, stressing that the Church will, on the other hand, comply with all court decisions regarding cases of abuse.
For D. José Ornelas, the decision to limit the granting of compensation to those who request it aims to show “respect” for the will of people, who refuse possible financial reparations.
“We do not set limits, a fund of this or that order”, he continued, specifying that “there is no statute of limitations for abusers having died”, in this field.
The CEP defined that requests for financial compensation must be presented to the VITA Group or to the Diocesan Commissions for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults, between June and December 2024.
“Subsequently, an evaluation committee will determine the amounts of compensation to be awarded”, adds the final statement from the assembly.
According to Catholic officials, these decisions are part of “the path taken by the Church in Portugal” in recent years.
In communion with the suffering of the victims, the Portuguese bishops reaffirm their total commitment to do everything to repair them and express the desire that this process of reception, monitoring and prevention will be a contribution to the action of society in general on this issue”.
The evaluation committee, with experts in the legal, psychological or psychiatric fields, will determine the value to be attributed to each victim, taking into account the seriousness of the cases and their consequences.
“It is an advisory service for a gesture that the Episcopal Conference wants to make”, explained the president of the episcopate.
The bishop of Leiria-Fátima spoke of “autonomous” action on the part of the experts who were appointed.
“This is a project that concerns the entire Portuguese Church”, stated D. José Ornelas, adding that “no amounts or quotas were fixed for each diocese”.
“If a diocese has more financial difficulties, it will not be alone in this situation”, he insisted.
The president of the CEP considered that the victims “are already playing” a role, in the dialogue with the institutions created by the Catholic Church
“It is important that this is taken into account for the evaluation criteria”, pointed out D. José Ornelas.
The official added that the Institutes of Consecrated Life followed this work, highlighting that each one has its “own standards”.
During 2022, the CEP requested a study on cases of sexual abuse in the Church in Portugal over the last 70 years from an Independent Commission, which validated 512 testimonies relating to situations of abuse, which would be presented in February 2023.
In April of that year, the Portuguese Episcopal Conference created the Vita Group to receive reports of abuse, work on prevention and monitor victims and aggressors.
Since January 2021, the Catholic Church in Portugal has had new guidelines for the “protection of minors and vulnerable adults”, highlighting an attitude of vigilance in the various pastoral activities and collaboration with the authorities.
Source: https://agencia.ecclesia.pt/portal/igreja-portugal-conferencia-episcopal-aprova-compensacoes-financeiras-para-vitimas-de-abusos/
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