Compensation for victims of abuses in the Church is the main issue at the meeting of bishops in Fatima

Portuguese Catholic bishops will meet starting this Monday in Fatima, and the topic of compensation for victims of sexual abuse in an ecclesiastical context will be one of the central issues of the meeting.

By next Thursday, the Plenary Assembly of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) is expected to agree on the criteria for these compensations, based on a proposal prepared by the VITA Group.

By the end of last week, 19 victims of sexual abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church had already expressed a desire to receive financial compensation for the damage caused to the VITA group, to which 86 situations had been reported.

VITA was created by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) following the work of the Independent Commission on Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, which over the course of almost a year confirmed 512 cases dating back to 1950. and 2022, indicating by extrapolation a minimum number of victims of 4815 people.

In addition to this issue of compensation for victims of sexual abuse, the Catholic episcopate will also prepare two pastoral notes: one on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974, and the other on the occasion of the 5th National Eucharistic Congress, which will begin in Braga at the end of May.

During the four days of the meeting, the CEP will also focus on reporting on the synodal process in the Church, taking into account the main meeting that will take place in October at the Vatican, as well as the Ad Limina visit that the Portuguese bishops will travel to the Vatican from May 20 to 24.

Preparations for next year’s anniversary and the financial report of the CEP General Secretariat for 2023 are other issues that the bishops will discuss in Fatima.