The cases have been handed over to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), the secretary general of Italy’s Conference of Bishops (CEI), Giuseppe Baturi, said in Rome on Thursday. These are reports of victims or files of alleged perpetrators with multiple victims, so 613 does not reflect the number of people abused, as Baturi explained. Also included are cases that have already been archived.
Baturi’s statements came during a press conference where the CEI presented a report on the protection of minors in the church. This study, which covers the years 2020 and 2021, shows that 89 alleged victims reported sexual harassment, sexual intercourse or inappropriate church-related behavior during those years.
The majority of the victims were between the ages of 10 and 18 at the time of the crime. The cases are current or are already in the past. In addition, 68 alleged perpetrators have been reported, the report continues. Just under half of them are clergy (30), the rest are lay people (23) and members of the parish (15). For the report, the CEI surveyed their 226 dioceses together with experts. 166 and so about 73 percent answered.
“This is a very serious act and a sin,” said Lorenzo Ghizzoni, CEI’s National Service for the Protection of Minors. This report is the first, but the CEI now intends to publish it every year. The Association of Victims of Abuse in Italy’s Rete l’Abuso Church criticized the report as bordering on “ridiculous” because of its short two-year period. In addition, there is no mention of compensation and the church does not support the victims enough. Only about 14 percent of dioceses provide psychological care.
(SDA)