Portugal's Catholic Church asks abuse victims for pardon

Portugal's Catholic Church asked victims of child sexual abuse by the clergy for forgiveness, following the publication of an independent report that set out the extent of the offences.

The damning report on child sexual abuse last month reported that clergy had abused nearly 5,000 children since 1950.

The Portuguese inquiry, commissioned by the Church in the staunchly Catholic country, published its findings after hearing from more than 500 victims last year.

"It is with sorrow that we once again ask forgiveness from all the victims of sexual assaults within the Catholic Church in Portugal," the bishops' conference said in a statement after a meeting in Fatima, central Portugal.

The Church would make a "public gesture" to ask forgiveness in Fatima in April, the statement added. A memorial to the victims was also being planned.

"We have to change the culture of the Church," Jose Ornelas Carvalho, bishop of Leiria-Fatima and president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference said at a news conference.

The Church would offer support to victims of abuse who wanted it, he added, but said the question of compensation would be a matter for the courts.

The report said that for years, the hierarchy in the Portuguese Church had systematically covered up the abuse.

The abuse scandal is just the latest in a series of such revelations engulfing the Catholic Church across the world.