In a note sent to the Lusa agency, the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) announced that the commission includes Circuit Judge Maria Amália Pereira dos Santos, president of the 3rd Civil Section of the Guimarães Court of Appeal, and Pedro Vaz Patto, Circuit Judge at the Porto Court of Appeal.
The commission also includes lawyers David Silva Ramalho, a guest lecturer at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Law, Francisco da Cunha Ferreira, and Paulo Câmara, a law professor at the Portuguese Catholic University.
Two other law professors round out the seven-member commission for determining financial compensation: Francisco Mendes Correia from the University of Lisbon and Rita Lynce de Faria from the Portuguese Catholic University.
According to the note from the Portuguese bishops, the permanent council of the CEP, meeting on Monday in Fatima, disclosed the composition of the entity “which is developing the proposals for the financial compensation amounts designated for victims of sexual abuse within the context of the Catholic Church in Portugal.”
Though no specific deadline was indicated, the statement clarifies that the advisory opinions, non-binding, from the said commission “will be presented, properly substantiated and confidentially, to the Portuguese Episcopal Conference or the competent Superior(s) of the Institutes of Consecrated Life, who will then make definitive decisions on them.”
“This decision will be duly substantiated in the notification to the author of the request,” emphasized the CEP.
At the end of September, the CEP announced it had validated 77 out of 84 requests for financial compensation for sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
For each of the 77 validated requests, inquiry commissions were set up—consisting of two experts in the fields of law, psychology, and psychiatry—and, up to that point, 70 interviews had been conducted.
Once the majority of opinions are concluded, the compensation determination commission will “freely determine the amount of financial compensation to be awarded.”
Among the seven jurists composing the commission, two are appointed by the CEP, two by the National Coordination Team of Diocesan Commissions for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults, two by the VITA Group, and one by the Conference of Religious Institutes of Portugal.
The aim, highlighted by the CEP in September, is to conclude the financial award processes by the end of the year.
The payment of financial compensation will be made using a fund from the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, which will include the solidarity contribution from the Dioceses and the Institutes of Consecrated Life.
