The commission, which began its work in January 2022, received a total of 564 testimonies, of which it validated 512. Many of the victims who testified said they knew of other children who also had been abused.
Officials ultimately estimated “a minimum number of 4,815 children” abused by Church officials there.
On Thursday, Leiria-Fátima Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho said that a “fundamental team” would be convened in order to determine the total amounts of compensation awarded to abuse victims.
Carvalho, who serves as president of the CEP, noted that “no amounts or contingents have been fixed for each diocese” and that “if a diocese has more difficulties of means, it will not be alone in this situation.”
The conference will “take until the end of this year to collect the applications” for the fund, the prelate said.
The conference in its announcement expressed “communion with the suffering of the victims,” adding that the Portuguese bishops “reaffirm the total commitment to do everything for their reparation.”
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