In a note published on the Presidency's website, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa declared that he is aware of the validation of 424 testimonies of sexual abuse in the Church in Portugal, announced by the Catholic Church, and said he hoped that "the cases can be quickly translated into Justice".

"The President of the Republic underlines, once again, the importance of the work of this Commission, although he regrets that no more testimonies were made, as this number does not seem particularly high in view of the likely sad reality, both in Portugal and around the world".

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa added that "several reports speak of much higher numbers in several countries, and unfortunately there were also much higher numbers in Portugal".

"As it did at the beginning of September, immediately transmitting the report it received to the PGR, it will continue to promote and support all efforts to ensure that abusers are held accountable and removed from any situation that could allow a recurrence of these behaviours, whether within the Catholic Church, or in any other situation", said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.