Ombudsman Ángel Gabilondo presented a report at the Congress of Deputies in Madrid on cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Spain. The investigation includes testimonies from 487 victims.
A report on cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church was presented Friday by Ángel Gabilondo to the Spanish Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish parliament. The 777-page document contains testimonies and recommendations to church institutions and the government to “take the necessary measures”.
“This is a report intended to respond to a situation of suffering and loneliness that has been somehow shrouded by an unjustified silence for years,” Gabilondo said.
Good and bad practices of the Church
The report does not provide exact figures on the victims, but presents relevant information from the testimonies of 487 of them. According to the ombudsman, the investigation was aimed at listening to people. – Listening to them means knowing their voice and experiencing their pain. What happened is a real disaster for them and for society. Victims are the focus of this report, Gabilondo said. The study condemns the fact that the Church in Spain has failed to recognize the seriousness of the problem for a long time. However, he admits that the abuse committee has noted good and bad practices.
At the same time, it was found that government authorities do not have adequate procedures in place to prevent, detect and respond to child sexual abuse in Catholic schools.
The report’s recommendations include: a public act of recognition and symbolic compensation for victims, the creation of a state fund for economic compensation for victims, and the establishment of a procedure for reparation for the damage suffered by victims of child sexual abuse and assault . the Catholic Church through a special governing body. Measures were also proposed to prevent similar incidents.
The recommendations call on the Catholic Church to provide the necessary resources to support victims and provide them and their families with the care they need. Dioceses and institutes for consecrated life are also called upon to make information from their archives available to researchers.
The victims are mainly men
Of the 487 victims who gave testimony, 84 percent were men, according to the report. “When presenting a range of testimonies from victims, the personal uniqueness of each of them must be taken into account,” the report emphasizes. Men also make up the majority of perpetrators of abuse, and only a small proportion of suspects have been brought before civil court.
In addition to meetings with victims’ associations, the Ombudsman has held more than 80 meetings with the President and General Secretaries of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, the President of the Spanish Conference of Religious and its superiors and members, the Dean of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota , representatives of the Institutes for Consecrated Life and the Advisory Commission and Forum of Victims’ Associations.
The report also presents a survey in which 8,000 people participated. adult Spaniards. 11.7 percent Respondents indicate that they were sexually abused before the age of 18. 3.36 percent stated that the abuse occurred within the family. In addition, 0.6 percent of a representative sample of the population surveyed stated that they had been sexually abused by a Catholic priest or minister, and 1.13 percent in a religious context. According to Gabilondo, it is important to tackle an issue that is “difficult for everyone.” “There needs to be accountability,” he said.
Source: Do Rzeczy
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