Hundreds of Portuguese priests sexually abused children

Hundreds of Portuguese priests have sexually abused children since 1950. This is the conclusion of only six months of the special commission looking into child abuse within the Catholic Church in Portugal. Of the 338 witness statements taken so far, only 17 have been passed to the Public Ministry for ‘possible opening of respective criminal processes’, says Correio da Manhã, stressing “there are little expectation of success in criminal matters”. According to the paper, the commission suspects the number of victims is “much higher” than it has been made aware of.