Priest Charged with Sexual Abuse in Portugal

Press TV
July 4, 2014

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/07/04/369785/priest-charged-with-sexual-abuse/

A priest and his accomplice have been charged with sexually abusing patients in several hospitals across Portugal, prosecutors say.

The alleged crimes were reportedly committed between 2004 and 2010 in hospitals run by the Roman Catholic order.

"The charge relates to the sexual abuse of four patients in the care of institutions run by the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God," prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday.

The order operates more than 250 medical centers around the world. One of the hospitals mentioned in the indictment is an institution specialized for the mentally ill.

The latest church scandal is unveiled as the Portuguese Catholic Church is already under fire for the case of another priest named Luis Miguel Mendes. He was sentenced in 2013 to ten years in prison for the sexual abuse of six minors aged between 13 and 15.

The Vatican has been rocked by major inquiries into claims of abuse in Ireland, the United States, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and several other countries.

A United Nations committee has been questioning the Vatican over the global child sex abuse scandal involving priests.

The committee has also blasted the Vatican’s practice of transferring the abusing clergymen from parish to parish in a bid to cover up their crimes.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis has said the church must be bolder in efforts to protect children.

On May 3, the pope’s newly-formed sexual abuse advisory board said it was to develop “clear and effective” protocols to hold bishops and other church authorities accountable if they failed to report suspected abuse or protect children from pedophile priests.