5000 child abuses recorded over 70 years in Portugal churches

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Almost 5,000 sex abuse cases have been recorded in Portugal churches.

A commission set up by Catholic bishops in Portugal to investigate child sex abuse cases has found that at least 4,815 children were abused over the past 70 years.

The Independent Committee for the Study of Child Abuse in the Catholic Church, said the cases mostly involved priests and were the “tip of the iceberg”.

57 per cent of the victims were boys aged between 10 and 14 abused in Catholic schools, churches, priests’ homes and confessionals.

The youngest victim was two years old. Bishops will meet on 3 March to consider “mechanisms” to prevent future abuse.