BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s Catholic Church says those “proven” to have abused minors have “no place in the priesthood.”
In a statement released Thursday, the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference said the country’s church is setting up a permanent system for reporting mistreatment or sexual abuse by people in the Church — in line with an edict from Pope Francis.
The statement did not mention specific cases but noted that the bishops’ conference considers the mistreatment and sexual abuse of minors to be “unacceptable everywhere, particularly in the Church” and is doing everything possible against it.
In the 2011 census, 39 percent of Hungarians said they were Catholic, down from 54.5 percent in 2001.