VATICAN CITY: Victims of clerical intercourse abuse proceed to face “disturbing” retaliation from Catholic Church leaders for talking out, regardless of years of reform efforts, a Vatican body said on Thursday (Oct 16).
In its second annual report, the Pontifical Fee for the Safety of Minors mentioned many survivors described cultural resistance and intimidation by Church leaders once they reported abuse.
The 103-page report, shared with Pope Leo XIV, included testimony from 40 victims, recounting “disturbing accounts of retaliation.”
One survivor mentioned a bishop warned that their grievance might “have an effect on” a sibling’s ordination, whereas one other mentioned a priest publicly declared their household excommunicated after they reported the abuse.
Others cited ongoing abuse and misconduct, together with compelled abortions amongst nuns and clergymen engaged in sexual relationships with minors.
“The Church bears an ethical and non secular obligation to heal the deep wounds inflicted from sexual violence perpetrated, enabled, mishandled, or lined up,” the report said.
