New Cardinal: Church must continue “effort” to be “exemplary” on the issue of abuse. Effort is simply not good enough!

The new Bishop of Setúbal, who this Saturday will be formally invested in the Vatican as a cardinal, considered this Friday that the Catholic Church in Portugal “must make a daily effort” to “continue to be exemplary” on the issue of sexual abuse.

Américo Aguiar, until now auxiliary bishop of Lisbon who served as president of the World Youth Day Foundation, spoke this Friday morning to some Portuguese journalists about expectations for the new role. Aguiar will take office in Setúbal on October 26th.

Considering that the victims are today the “priority” and that this is the “right place” for them, the new bishop of Setúbal added: “We are all convinced that pain does not prescribe, that these people are heroes, because they had the courage to open your heart, to share dark moments of your life and we can only embrace, welcome, hug and accompany, without dismissing ourselves from anything that is within our reach and depends on us to help on the path that needs to be taken.”

Américo Aguiar added that, comparing “the feeling of the Portuguese Church in Portuguese society in 2019 and today”, the situation is “totally different – and it is different for the better, in terms of understanding the serious problem and in terms of the procedures that each one took.”

The report of the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse Against Children in the Portuguese Catholic Church, in the recent past, the improvement of the constitution and procedures of the diocesan commissions for the Protection of Minors and the creation of the Vita Group, to monitor situations of sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults are steps that Américo Aguiar considers important in this process.

In the case of the Independent Commission, the report presented in February validated 512 of the 564 testimonies received, estimating that the body had at least 4,815 victims of abuse, between 1950-2022. The Vita Group, presented in April, succeeded CI and has already identified 57 complaints or requests for help.

“Now each of the dioceses has to do its best, increasingly better” so that the Church can be exemplary “in the treatment and reception of cases”. And “this feeling” must now be assumed “across the board, in Portuguese society”, considered Bishop Américo Aguiar. There is already a lot to be done “in education, in companies, in all areas”, but the perception of public opinion is not yet that.

The “very different” realities of Setúbal

As for the diocese where he will start working, the new bishop of Setúbal is concerned about the “very different” social realities of the region, pointing out concrete situations such as “housing” or the “lack of it” and “labor problems”.

Stating that he deeply wants to “go to the field, be with the people”, the new Portuguese cardinal – one of the four who can vote in a possible conclave – expressed his concern about situations such as that of Autoeuropa. The bishop already had, as a citizen and Portuguese, “some affection and some curiosity for the project” of the factory, but the latest news – the company had to stop production due to the lack of a part – shook his “insides”. .

The “diversity of origins of the people who live in this territory” and the “economic and industrial activities” of the Setúbal region are important “for the country and for the people who live there”, he added, saying that there will be “many fronts” in the new diocese. Therefore, in this first phase, he intends to “meet people and try to get to know” the different realities”, including Comporta and “very different” others. Setúbal “has everything”, he summarized.

As Cardinal, Américo Aguiar does not see himself, for now, participating soon in a future conclave – in which he can elect the Pope and, in theory, be elected: “For now we are very well served”, he stated, referring to the Pope Francisco”, who is 86 years old. The Pope's new advisor imagines that this will be “a once-in-a-lifetime experience”, since so far his only “conclave experience” has been “on this side”, in reference to the elections of Benedict XVI (2005) and Francis ( 2013).

In his new position, Aguiar hopes to take part “in what are the problems, the difficulties, the projects, the paths, the reflections, the prayer” of the Church and the College of Cardinals.

Even though there's no talk of the Pope stepping down at the moment, it's known that Francis has already written a letter of resignation for years if he has health problems that prevent him from carrying out his duties. And he himself has said several times that his would be a "short" pontificate. However, the fact that Ratzinger/Benedict XVI lived until the end of 2022 postponed Francis' eventual resignation. Now that he is about to begin what is one of the main projects of his pontificate, there has been speculation that the Pope will at least want to finish the Synod on synodality (in October 2024).

Source