Portugal: Catholic clergy abused nearly 5,000 children since 1950, inquiry finds

Thousands of reports of paedophilia within the church have surfaced around the world, and Pope Francis is under pressure to tackle the scandal.

The Portuguese inquiry, commissioned by the church in the staunchly Catholic country, published its findings after hearing from more than 500 survivors last year.

Strecht, a child psychiatrist, said it would be difficult now for Portugal to ignore the existence of child sexual abuse or the trauma it had caused.

Faced with a multitude of clergy sexual abuse cases that have come to light worldwide and the accusations of cover-ups, Pope Francis promised in 2019 to root out paedophilia in the Catholic church.

Inquiries have been launched in several countries in addition to Portugal, including Australia, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.

She found the courage to report her attacker to church authorities three years ago, but said she was ignored.

The bishop in charge did no more than pass on her complaint to the Vatican, which has still not responded, she said.