Nearly 4,400 people have been abused by Catholic priests in Italy in cases reported since 2020, a victims’ group claimed Friday, renewing pressure on bishops to confront a crisis that has long plagued the world’s largest Christian faith.
The unofficial tally by Rete l’Abuso, Italy’s largest group for victims of church abuse, is based on victims’ accounts, legal sources and cases reported by the media, said the association’s founder, Francesco Zanard.
Rete l’Abuso did not say how far back the alleged cases of abuse took place.
The Italian bishops’ conference (CEI), which was criticized by the Vatican’s child protection commission last week, had no comment on the findings, a spokesman said.
Most accusations relate to abuse by priests
The global Catholic Church has been rocked for decades by scandals involving pedophile priests and cover-ups of their crimes, but local church leaders in Italy have been less forthcoming about confronting the problem.
New Pope Leo, who met survivors of priest sexual abuse for the first time this week, has told the Church’s newest bishops not to hide allegations of misconduct. His predecessor, the late Pope Francis, made it a priority in his 12-year papacy to address the issue, but with mixed results.
In an unusually critical report on the issue published on October 16, the Vatican’s child protection commission said only 81 of Italy’s 226 dioceses responded to a questionnaire on protection practices that it had prepared.
Rete l’Abuso said it had documented 1,250 suspected cases of abuse – some with multiple victims – including 1,106 allegedly committed by priests, with the rest attributed to nuns, religious teachers, lay volunteers, educators and Boy Scouts members.
The report contained cases related to 4,625 victims – or survivors, as the association calls them – including 4,395 abused by priests.
The report said 4,451 of the survivors were under 18 and an almost equal number – 4,108 – were men, Rete l’Abuso said, adding that five nuns, 156 vulnerable adults and 11 people with disabilities were also among the victims.
According to the association, only 76 out of the 1,106 suspected predator priests were subjected to church proceedings, of which 17 were temporarily suspended, seven moved to other parishes and 18 were dismissed or resigned from the priesthood. Five died by suicide, it added.
