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Portuguese Bishops to set up commission for child sex abuse cases
By João Gomes | Lusa.pt
Apr 13, 2023
EURACTIV
The Independent Commission, led by child psychiatrist Pedro Strecht, validated 512 of the 564 testimonies received, pointing to at least 4,815 victims. [Shutterstock/A3pfamily]
The Plenary Assembly of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference starts on Monday in Fatima and is expected to set up a body that will replace the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse against Children in the Portuguese Catholic Church.
On 3 March, the Portuguese bishops, after meeting to analyse the Independent Commission’s report, announced their willingness to create “a specific group, which will be articulated with the National Coordination Team of the Diocesan Commissions for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults”, which is led by former Attorney General José Souto Moura.
Psychologist Rute Agulhas, a member of the Commission for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults of the Patriarchate of Lisbon, is the candidate for leadership the presidency of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference (CEP) is proposing to be voted on, the Observador reported.
The Independent Commission, led by child psychiatrist Pedro Strecht, validated 512 of the 564 testimonies received, pointing to at least 4,815 victims.
Wow! Geographically, Portugal is smaller than Newfoundland.
Twenty-five cases were reported to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which led to 15 enquiries, of which nine have been closed, while six are still under investigation. These testimonies refer to cases that occurred between 1950 and 2022.
Following these results, some dioceses have removed some priests.
The Plenary Assembly of the Episcopate, which will take place between Monday and Thursday in Fatima, will also be marked by the elections for the organs of the CEP for the next triennium.
Recently, there have been reports that the current president of CEP, José Ornelas, bishop of Leiria-Fatima, who has not yet decided whether he is available to be a candidate for a new mandate.
The attrition caused by three years of mandate marked by the pandemic and by the sexual abuse situation in the Church will be at the base of the eventual non-candidacy of José Ornelas.
If he is not elected for a new mandate, the Independent Commission created under his presidency will remain as is.
Meanwhile, the bishops will celebrate the Eucharist in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity in Fatima on Thursday on the national day of prayer for the victims of “sexual abuse, of power and conscience in the Church”.
The CEP had already announced this public apology to the victims on 3 March.
Preparation for World Youth Day, scheduled for early August in Lisbon, with the presence of the Pope and some appointments to the various secretariats and episcopal commissions, will also be discussed next week in Fatima.
On another topic, it is fascinating to read the history of Fatima, both the city with its apparent appearances of Mary, and the daughter of Mohammed for whom it was named. It's curious to me that Mary would choose this town to make her first public appearance in 1900 years.
Pope Francis remarks on 'offensive' insinuations against John Paul II
By Adam Schrader
Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican.on Sunday, April 9, 2023.
Pope Francis invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people.
File Photo by Stefano Spaziani/UPI | License Photo
April 16 (UPI) -- Pope Francis on Sunday defended St. John Paul II against insinuations that his predecessor would seek out young girls to molest while flanked by two monsignors.
This is the Pope who was rushed into Sainthood. If the insinuations are true, several people in the Vatican had to know about it, and yet he was rushed into sainthood.
The insinuations were made in the form of an audiotape of a purported mobster provided by the brother of "Vatican Girl" Emanuela Orlandi to prosecutors investigating her 1983 disappearance.
Pietro Orlandi, whose 15-year-old sister vanished while waiting for a bus on her way to a music lesson in Piazza di Sant'Apollinare in Rome, played part of the recording on an Italian television program after meeting with investigators.
Investigators in Vatican City, the city-state that houses the Holy See of the Catholic Church, announced in January the cold case investigation into Emanuela's disappearance was reopened after several requests from her family. Her father was a Vatican employee and she lived in the city-state before she vanished.
"I direct a grateful thought to the memory of Saint John Paul II, the object of offensive and unfounded inferences these past few days," Francis said Sunday, according to Vatican News -- the press arm of the Holy See.
Vatican News, which is owned and operated by the church, noted that "conspiracy theories abound" related to the disappearance of Emanuela.
Andrea Tornielli, the Vatican's editorial director, also addressed the scandal in a statement published by the church.
"It is sacrosanct that there be a full investigation to seek the truth about Emanuela's disappearance," Tornielli said.
"But no one deserves to be slandered in this way, without even a shred of evidence, on the basis of the 'rumors' of some unknown personage of the criminal underworld or of some sleazy anonymous comment broadcast live on TV."
Of course, the Vatican and the criminal underworld were very deeply entwined. See David Yallop's "In God's Name." Both may have been involved in the murder of John Paul.
The case was reopened just months after the release of the Netflix documentary Vatican Girl, which focused on her disappearance. The documentary suggested that the Vatican may have withheld information about her fate.
Pietro Orlandi's lawyer Laura Sgro said Friday that her client had not intended to "formulate accusations against anyone," according to Italy's ANSA news agency.
"He reiterated that to the prosecutor, and he wrote it in the deposition he presented during his testimony," said Sgro.
"He only asked that the quest for the truth should not be conditioned in any way. He is sorry that some people have misinterpreted his statements by manipulating some things extrapolated from them."
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