Portuguese justice confirmed on Saturday that it is examining a complaint against the president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP), who according to local media is suspected of having covered a case of sexual abuse of children in Mozambique in 2011.
The complaint was “forwarded to the Public Ministry of Braga [ville du nord du pays, NDLR] and to the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) of Lisbon, in order to be able to be studied“, confirmed to AFP the public prosecutor.
According to Saturday’s edition of the daily Publico, Msgr. José Ornelas, current bishop of Leiria-Fatima (center) and president of the CEP, is suspected of having covered as a hierarchical superior a case of sexual assault in a Mozambican orphanage that notably involved an Italian priest in 2011.
The Portuguese Episcopal Conference immediately reacted in a press release to recognize that Dom José Ornelas had “received information about possible abuse” in 2011 but that after an investigation, “no evidence of any abusehad not been established.
Both the Mozambican courts and the Italian courts have decided to close the case, the Church’s press release indicates, adding that for the moment Bishop José Ornelas had not been informed of the opening of an investigation by the from the public prosecutor.
Portuguese justice has opened several investigations in recent months into suspicions of sexual assault in the Church following testimonies from alleged victims collected by an independent commission.
Like France, an independent commission, whose work began at the beginning of the year, is responsible for investigating sexual assaults within the Church in Portugal, a country with a strong Catholic tradition.
This commission, made up of six experts, had been created at the initiative of the Portuguese Church in order to shed light on the issue of sexual violence.
The work of the commission, which should be completed at the end of the year, will give rise to a report which will then be submitted to the Portuguese episcopal conference.
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The Portuguese Church reaffirmed on Saturday its determination to continue to “cooperate fullywith authorities to clarify any cases of sexual abuse.