The bishops of Portugal announced a plan to provide financial compensation for victims of clerical sexual abuse.
Full details of the plan, which was announced in a statement at the end of the most recent plenary meeting of the bishops’ conference, were not immediately released, but it included provision for a common fund into which all of Portugal’s diocese will pay.
Victims have between June and December 2024 to formalise their claim for compensation. An independent commission, made up of experts on abuse cases, will then decide on the amount to be distributed.
The bishops seemed to have been careful to outline the compensation in terms that would not imply liability for the abuse. Victims may continue to pursue civil or canonical cases against their abusers, who may be forced to pay additional compensation by court order.
The president of the bishops’ conference, Bishop José Ornellas of Leiria-Fátima, said that canonical or civil statutes of limitations would not apply, but did not explain if or how the claims would be vetted for credibility.
Nor did he offer any explanation as to whether the common fund was intended only for claims made up to the end of 2024, or if it will be maintained and be used for cases that might be brought at a later date.
A report by an independent commission on clerical sexual abuse in Portugal, published in February 2023, received over 300 testimonies of alleged victims and estimated a total of nearly 5,000 cases in the past several decades. So far, just over 20 victims have said that they would seek financial compensation from the Church.
There was speculation ahead of the bishops’ meeting that they were far from a consensus on this matter, but they seemed to reach a solution that received unanimous support. These plans do not, however, apply to cases involving religious orders.
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