Reports of sexual abuse in Italy’s Catholic Church rise.
Thousands of young people in Italy have come forward to say they were abused by priests and other members of the Catholic Church over the past four years, a rights group for victims of sexual abuse said.
The figures have raised concerns about the ongoing sexual abuse crisis in the church.
The association Rete Laboso, which works to support victims, said on Friday that it had recorded 4,400 accounts of abuse since 2020.
The group said the data was based on victims’ statements, court documents and media reports.
The group found that most of the abusers were priests, although some cases involved nuns and volunteers.
The Catholic Church has been under pressure in recent decades over a series of sex scandals and a cover-up.
In Italy, however, the official response of the church to the crisis remains limited.
Pope Leo, who recently took over the Vatican, met with a number of victims for the first time this week and warned bishops not to hide any reports.
The Rete Laboso network said it had so far registered 1,250 suspected cases, identifying more than 4,600 victims.
According to the report, most of the victims were under 18 at the time of the abuse.
Despite this scale, only 76 suspected priests have been tried in church courts. 18 have also been dismissed or forced to resign, and five have committed suicide.
