‘They ruined it all’: What went wrong with the Portuguese abuse commission

The Portuguese bishops and an independent commission on clerical abuse are under fire, despite starting with considerable public good will. Why?

After an independent commission set up by the bishops of Portugal issued its final report last month, many Catholics hoped it would mark a new era of transparency and accountability in the Church.

At the time the report was published on Feb. 13, both bishops and the commission had a high degree of public confidence and good will. But, since the commissio…