The Organization of World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 (WYJLisboa2023) reaffirmed its “commitment to actively participate” in the fight against sexual violence, “to promote a culture of prevention and care” during the Journey.
In a note posted on your social media page facebookJMJLisboa2023 said it “follows with pain and deep sadness the findings of the report of the Independent Commission for the Study of Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church in Portugal” released on Monday.
“The messages shock and shame us,” the note reads.
The organization of World Youth Day, scheduled to take place in Lisbon from 1 to 6 August, also mentions that it is praying “for all those who have been physically, emotionally and sexually abused by members of the Catholic Church” and asks that “they be remembered, respected and accompanied everything you need.”
JMJLisboa2023 is led by Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon Américo Aguiar, who is also the coordinator of the Commission for the Protection of Minors of the Lisbon Patriarchate.
Earlier, the organization of the Day announced that it was looking forward to working with the Portuguese Association for the Support of Victims (APAV) to adopt procedures for preventing, protecting and responding to incidents that young participants in the global meeting with the Pope may be involved in. .
The report of the Independent Commission on Sexual Violence in the Church indicated that 512 of the 564 testimonies received were corroborated, extrapolating the existence of at least 4,815 victims, with 25 cases sent to the Ministry.
The data showed that 97% of the abusers were men and in 77% of the cases priests, in addition to the fact that in 47% of the cases the abuser was a member of the child’s close relationship.
The Conference of Portuguese Bishops will take its position on the report on March 3 in Fatima at an extraordinary plenary session.
The sexual abuse exposed during 2022 shocked the church and Portuguese society, similar to what happened with similar initiatives in other countries, with alleged cases of cover-up by the religious hierarchy prompting apologies.