It is an “affront” to give between 9 thousand and 45 thousand euros to victims of sexual abuse in the Church

Process completed: 57 requests for financial compensation approved, 11 rejected and 17 archived. “I don’t understand the Catholic Church.”

The Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) announced that it is completed o process of financial compensation for victims of sexual abuse in the context of Catholic Church in Portugal.

In , the CEP indicates that it received 95 requests: 78 eligible, 17 archived outright – because, either there were other forms of violence, or the complainants did not go to the interview, or the complainants stopped responding to contacts to schedule an interview.

Of the 78 eligible, 11 were rejected. The reasons for rejection: decisions of the Holy See that ordered the process to be closed; the complainant was of legal age and was not a vulnerable adult; the accused did not belong to the clergy, nor exercised functions or responsibilities in the context of the Church; or situations that did not constitute violence of a sexual nature.

9 are still in the final analysis phase to define the amount to be allocated and 1 pending orderawaiting a decision from the Holy See.

In other words, they were approved 57 requests for financial compensation.

The total value will be just over 1.6 million euros. Each of the plaintiffs will receive compensation that varies between 9 thousand and 45 thousand euros.

“I don’t understand”

António Grosso, spokesperson for the Silenced Heart Association, says that this decision “It’s an affront.”

“They don’t even define levels. Some are more than others. They say that the value attributed corresponds to the reality of each person and the suffering imposed on them – but after all How do you measure this trauma?“, he asks, in .

The spokesperson for the association that has defended the complainants also says that the number of victims (57, so far) recognized by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference is “ridiculous”, compared to the 512 testimonies validated by the Independent Commission, and “even more ridiculous” compared to the estimate of 4,815 victims.

“I don’t understand how the Portuguese Catholic Church has the audacity to reach this conclusion”, laments Antonio Grosso.