VATICAN CITY: Victims of clerical sex abuse continue to face “disturbing” retaliation from Catholic Church leaders for speaking out, despite years of reform efforts, a Vatican body said on Thursday (Oct 16).
In its second annual report, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said many survivors described cultural resistance and intimidation by Church leaders when they reported abuse.
The 103-page report, shared with Pope Leo XIV, included testimony from 40 victims, recounting “disturbing accounts of retaliation.”
One survivor said a bishop warned that their complaint could “affect” a sibling’s ordination, while another said a priest publicly declared their family excommunicated after they reported the abuse.
Others cited ongoing abuse and misconduct, including forced abortions among nuns and priests engaged in sexual relationships with minors.
“The Church bears a moral and spiritual obligation to heal the deep wounds inflicted from sexual violence perpetrated, enabled, mishandled, or covered up,” the report stated.
Source: CNA
