Portuguese bishops returned this Thursday morning to ask for forgiveness from victims of church sexual abuse. At a mass attended by about 40 bishops, titular, auxiliary and honorary, D. José Ornelas, re-elected President of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, spoke of “unjust, cruel and manipulative behavior, sometimes disguised as attention and affection”, and said that in this question, “The Church is on a path from which she cannot turn back.”
“We assume that we have not been able to be aware and monitor as we should in order to avoid these abuses and deal with the severity of the offences,” the CEP president said, adding that “those who abused and those those who covered are included in the group of those who continue to crucify Christ.