The 86-year-old pontiff arrives in Lisbon on Wednesday and is expected to meet in private with victims of clergy abuse during his five-day visit to attend World Youth Day.

Organizers expect up to 1 million people will take part in the event, which is being held for the first time since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It comes after an independent commission published a report in February that found "at least" 4,815 children were sexually abused by clergy members in the country, mostly priests, since 1950.

The inquiry, based on testimony from more than 500 victims, concluded Portugal's Church hierarchy "systematically" tried to conceal the abuse.

The results of the inquiry, commissioned by the Church in Portugal, has tainted the institution in the country where 80 percent of its population of some 10 million people identify as Roman Catholic.

A poll by Lisbon's Catholic University of Portugal found 68 percent of all Portuguese feel the Church's image has deteriorated.

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