LISBON (PORTUGAL)
Portugal Resident [Lagoa, Portugal]
December 1, 2025
By Natasha Donn
Victims of sexual abuse accuse Church of “opacity, slowness, disrespect”
Years on from the shocking report that lifted the lid on decades of deviant behaviour by priests and officials of the Catholic Church and very little appears to have been done for the hundreds of victims.
The “process of analysis” of victims’ claims, in order to determine financial compensation, is simply taking much too long – and smacks of obfuscation.
The Silent Heart Association, which brings together victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, has had enough of waiting.
In a press release today it expresses “concern and outrage” – lamenting the lack of information, and general sloth.
“The Silenced Heart Association expresses deep concern and indignation regarding the handling of the process of analysing and compensating victims of sexual violence within the Portuguese Catholic Church,” says the release, accusing the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP, better known as the conference of bishops) of a lack of “transparency and responsibility.”
“With each new stage, a pattern of opacity, slowness, and disrespect for the people who suffered abuse becomes more evident,” explains the text “no information has been released regarding the total amount available for reparations for the approximately 90 people already recognised by the Church.”
The statement comes after the VITA Group, created by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) to monitor cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, announced on Thursday in Fátima that the number of requests for compensation has increased to 93 – and that the analysis and interview process should be completed in early 2026, after which CEP will proceed with awarding the compensation.
The Silent Heart Association demands that victims have “immediate and full access to decisions that concern them, that the compensation process become fully transparent, dignified and centered on survivors, and that the Catholic Church in Portugal put an end to the culture of concealment that continues to compromise truth and justice.
“Reparation cannot be an administrative farce”, says today’s release. It must be an act of responsibility, courage, and respect for the lives destroyed (…) the process has moved forward with a slowness that, for the victims, translates into anxiety, exhaustion, and retraumatisation.”
According to the association, interviews were conducted “in an excessively inquisitorial manner, without victims having access to cell phones, pens, or paper, forcing them to repeat the same accounts in sessions that lasted up to eight hours.”
On November 13, the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) announced that, up to that day, 89 requests for financial compensation had been submitted following abuses in the Catholic Church – with 78 having been considered effective.
On Thursday, the coordinator of the VITA Group, Rute Agulhas, stated that “being considered effective does not necessarily mean they will receive compensation,” as the 93 applications are under analysis and study, and in some of these situations, information is still awaited from the Church itself.
Agulhas also said that the VITA Group was not asked for a suggested financial amount for compensation, but rather for “a somewhat transnational analysis” to understand “what happened in other countries.”
By cross-referencing this information with national case law, Rute Agulhas believes that figures for financial compensation can be determined.
The VITA Group, created by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) to address situations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, presents itself as an autonomous and independent structure that aims to welcome, listen to, support, and prevent situations of sexual violence against children and vulnerable adults within the context of the Catholic Church.
In many ways it is caught ‘in the middle’ of this awful situation which was always to be expected. Readers may recall that at one point, the bishops actually tried to wriggle out of paying any kind of compensation at all.
Source material: LUSA