The Catholic Church in Portugal today apologized to the victims of sexual violence committed by the clergy, after the publication of an independent report on the extent of pedophilia in the church.
"With pain, we once again ask for forgiveness from all the victims of sexual assault within the Catholic Church in Portugal," it was announced today at the meeting of the Portuguese Bishops' Conference held in Fatima.
In Fatima, a sanctuary city in the central part of the country, a public meeting about the apology will be organized in April.
Portugal's bishops have vowed to take "concrete measures" in response to the findings of an independent commission they appointed in late 2021 to shed light on pedophilia scandals in the Catholic Church.
That commission, after collecting more than 500 testimonies in a period of one year, determined that at least 4.815 minors were victims of sexual violence since 1950.
Related Articles
That violence was covered up by the hierarchy of the Church in a "systematic" way, it was stated in the conclusions of the report of the independent commission.
Bonus video:
