Azores situation report Wednesday 15th March 2023

 

New president of SATA says the company is in “significant recovery”. 

The new chairman of SATA’s Board of Directors, Teresa Mafalda Gonçalves, assured, in a parliamentary hearing, in the Azores, that the company is in “recovery” and that it will show “significant growth” in the 2022 accounts.

“It is not a recovery that can be seen overnight”, explained the administrator of the Azorean airline, during a hearing at the Economics commission of the Regional Assembly, held in Ponta Delgada, stressing that, even so, the company’s financial results, indicate a “very significant growth in terms of revenues”.

Teresa Gonçalves, who replaces Luís Rodrigues in the position, who was transferred to the management of TAP, at the invitation of the Government of the Republic, recalled that the financial results of Grupo SATA, relative to last year, are not yet closed and, therefore, did not want to still reveal numbers to deputies.

Diocese of Angra suspends two priests on suspicion of abuse. 

The diocese of Angra, in the Azores, has suspended two priests who are being investigated for alleged cases of sexual abuse of minors, it has been announced.

In a statement, the Bishop of Angra, Armando Esteves Domingues, reveals that the list given to him last Friday by the Independent Commission for the Study of cases of Sexual Abuse of Minors in the Catholic Church in Portugal “contains two names: one priest from São Miguel and another from Terceira Island”.

“The diocesan bishop has already spoken with both and, together, they agreed that the priests in question will be prevented from the public exercise of the ministry until the end of the prior investigation process, which has already been initiated in the diocese and in accordance with canonical norms. The participation to the Public Ministry will also follow”, adds the statement.

In the note, Armando Esteves Domingues underlines that “this decision is not an assumption of guilt by themselves, nor a condemnation by the diocesan bishop”, but rather the fulfilment of what Pope Francis has recommended as a norm and practice of the Church in matters of abuses.

The report by the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse of Children in the Catholic Church in Portugal identified complaints relating to eight cases of alleged abuse that occurred in seven municipalities in the Azores: two in Velas and one in Calheta, on the island of São Jorge; one on Faial; one in Angra do Heroísmo and one in Praia da Vitória, on Terceira Island; one in the municipality of Lajes and another in São Roque, both on the island of Pico, the statement also says.

“These alleged abuses were allegedly committed between 1973 and 2004, by different people”, four of whom – three priests and one layperson – have since died.

The diocese adds that, “after the presentation of the report by the Independent Commission, and after three years of activity without any complaint, it has already received a new complaint, which involves a priest of São Miguel who has died”.

A member of the Diocesan Commission for Prevention and Accompaniment met with the victim and provided “the support of the diocese to continue this path of recovery”.

According to the bishop, “after the shame and scandal that the revelation of the existence of abuses provoked in society in general and Christians in particular, it is time for action”.

“To all those who feel hurt, confused or lost, we appeal to you to trust that everything will be done to implement punitive measures where necessary, but also preventive and formative measures, which contribute to restoring confidence and hope to all Christians”, he adds.

Armando Esteves Domingues defends that “the priority of the Church must continue to be the victims, who for years suffered in silence (…), guaranteeing them the right to justice and care, without rejecting technical, human and financial means to repair the harm inflicted”.

“Even aware that the perception of the seriousness of this crime is very different today than it was in the past, these abuses could never have happened in the Church. Asking for forgiveness is not enough”, stresses the prelate, assuring that “the diocese of Angra will do everything to ensure that abuses no longer take place”.

“The Church cannot even try to hide the tragedy of abuse. We will act with zero tolerance towards abusers and make ourselves available to welcome, listen and repair the lives of all those who have been abused, whether those who have already reported it, or those who in their silence and shame continue to suffer alone”, he adds.

The bishop also announces the availability, through the Diocesan Commission for Prevention and Monitoring, “of all means to guarantee the monitoring and psychological treatment of the victims”.

“This commission, now renewed, composed only of lay people, specialists in various social, therapeutic and legal areas, will continue to do its work in an even more committed way, guaranteeing the secrecy that situations of this delicacy require”, continues the statement.

The bishop of Angra also addresses “those who still haven’t had the courage to denounce or prefer not to voice their silence”, expressing “availability to listen to them”.

The Independent Commission validated, at the national level, 512 of the 564 testimonies received – between January and October 2022 -, pointing, by extrapolation, to a minimum number of victims of around 4,815. Twenty-five cases were reported to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which led to the opening of 15 inquiries, of which nine have already been archived, six remaining under investigation.

These testimonies refer to cases that occurred in the period between 1950 and 2022, the time span that covered the commission’s work.

The summary of the report, however, reveals that “the data collected in ecclesiastical archives regarding the incidence of sexual abuse must be understood as the ‘tip of the iceberg’”.

On the morning of last Friday, this commission led by child psychiatrist Pedro Strecht, delivered the list of alleged abusers to those responsible for the different dioceses.

 

 

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