David Silva Ramalho, Managing Associate at Morais Leitão, is one of the members of the VITA Group, set up to implement a structured response by the Catholic Church to reports of sexual abuse. With a focus on criminal and normative law, the lawyer plays a central role in developing mechanisms that promote transparency and accountability.
One of his main tasks is the creation of special reporting channels, known as whistleblowing systems. These mechanisms are designed to ensure that complaints are received by the relevant bodies, which are able to follow them up internally or externally, as appropriate. The aim is to eradicate the culture of concealment that has characterised the Church's past and to establish a culture of zero tolerance towards these practices.
In addition, the lawyer is working on an analysis of past complaints to assess the possibility of bringing new criminal proceedings, taking into account the challenges related to statutes of limitations and the application of the law over time. Although many crimes may already be statute-barred, it is important to ensure that open cases are treated with the utmost seriousness and rigour.
David Silva Ramalho emphasises that the VITA group's main task is to prevent new cases of abuse: «Criminal proceedings will not solve the sexual abuses in the Church, those that are behind us. It won't solve them all. It will hold people accountable, and that's what's important right now. It is about identifying and holding defendants and suspects accountable for practices that have been proven.»
Listen to the full interview here.
(The interview is in portuguese only)
