Lisbon’s cardinal-patriarch of Lisbon, Manuel Clemente, has stressed that the Portuguese Catholic Church is “fully committed” to resolving the issue of child sexual abuse by members of the clergy, albeit focus on World Youth Day might suggest otherwise. He told a press conference today, ahead of WYD’s launch tomorrow: “In terms of setting up a network of protection and prevention of such events, we are working and we will continue to work,” said Manuel Clemente, who said of protests against the Church due to the abuse cases: “We live in a democratic and free society. The right to demonstrate is public. For our part, we are totally committed to solving this problem.”
