Spain: 445 complaints of sexual abuse against the Church

MADRID (AP) — Ombudsman Ángel Gabilondo said Monday that an independent commission created a year ago to investigate sexual abuse by the Catholic Church in Spain has collected testimonies from 445 victims, as the country is grappling with an issue that other European countries acted on long ago.

On March 10, 2020, the Spanish Parliament approved the opening of the first official investigation, led by Gabilondo, into the extent of sexual abuse committed by priests and church leaders. The government was forced to act after the newspaper El País published allegations of abuse involving more than 1,200 victims, sparking public outrage.

Testimony continues to be collected and an update will be released to parliament before the current government’s term ends this year, Gabilondo’s office said in a statement. Although “we are satisfied” with the number of victims who have approached us, “what really matters and worries us, more than the number, is to listen to the victims and to do so with respect, seriousness, discretion and confidentiality “, he added.

A Madrid-based law firm is carrying out a parallel investigation ordered by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, which for years rejected the idea of ​​taking a comprehensive approach to investigating sexual abuse.

In an indication that the bishops are still not cooperating fully with the investigation ordered by the government, the Spanish ombudsman said that a year after receiving his mandate, “we ask for the collaboration of the different levels of the Catholic Church and we hopefully we’ll be able to have it soon.”

Only a handful of countries have carried out government or parliamentary inquiries into the abuses, such as Spain.

The most thorough survey was conducted in Australia and found in 2017 that 7% of Catholic priests were accused of abusing minors between 1980 and 2010. Inquiries by judges in Ireland from 2005 have had repercussions on the influence of the Catholic Church in Irish society. and politics.

And in France, independent research estimated in 2021 that some 330,000 children were victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clerics or other lay employees affiliated with the Catholic Church from 1950 to 2020.

In neighboring Portugal, a group of experts said last month that more than 4,800 people had been sexually abused by members of the Catholic Church.