Italy’s Catholic Church issues first report on clergy sexual abuse

ROME

The Italian Catholic Church released its first accounting of alleged clergy sexual abuse against minors and vulnerable adults Thursday, but victims' associations said the actual number of cases was likely much higher and criticized its limited scope as “shameful.”

The 41-page report revealed 89 presumed victims and accused 68 people but only covered 2020 and 2021. A second report going back to 2000 has been anticipated by the Vatican, but it is still unclear when it will be released.

According to the first report, most victims were between the ages of 15-18 when they were abused. Sixteen of the victims were adults that the church considered "vulnerable." The claims mainly involved inappropriate language, behavior and touching. Alleged abusers included priests as well as lay people such as church workers and religion teachers.

At a press conference held Thursday, senior church officials said they are researching more than 600 sexual abuse cases that have been filed with the Vatican since 2000.

However, victims’ associations denounced the limits of the report, which only covers two years and does not include research into the Vatican archives.

Victims' associations are still fighting to obtain a full accounting of the abuses perpetrated within the Church, calling for an independent investigation that should cover many decades, as happened in other countries like France and Germany.

The Vatican report is based on data coming from the so-called "listening centers" in dioceses but only includes information from victims who denounced the abuses.

Italy's main survivors group, Rete L'Abuso, estimates around 1 million victims in Italy. Its head, Francesco Zanardi, blasted the report as "absolutely unsatisfactory and shameful."

"If in two years, they received 89 complaints, that means the problem is there and it's big,'' he added.