An investigation makes serious allegations against the Spanish Church: According to an estimate, hundreds of thousands of minors may have been abused. The responsible ombudsman, Gabilondo, demanded compensation.
According to an independent study, at least 236,000 people in the Catholic Church in Spain have been sexually abused as minors in recent decades.
This estimate is based on a representative survey commissioned by a parliamentary investigative commission by the opinion research institute GAD3, said the Spanish ombudsman and commission head Ángel Gabilondo when presenting the report in the lower house of parliament in Madrid. He proposed a state compensation fund for the victims.
0.6 percent of all 8,000 adults surveyed said they had been victims of abuse by a clergyman in church institutions as children or young people, said Gabilondo. Even 1.13 percent said they had been sexually abused as minors “in a religious environment.” This would increase the estimated number of victims of child abuse to around 445,000. The investigation lasted 15 months.
“The silence is proven”
To prepare the report on pedocrime in the Catholic Church, the commission said it spoke to almost 500 victims. It turned out that both the church and state institutions had done too little to prevent the abuse of children, said Gabilondo. “The silence of those who could have done more to prevent this is proven.”
Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the report a “milestone” and assured that his left-wing government would analyze the proposals and respond accordingly. He emphasized: “Today our democracy is a better democracy.”
Unlike Germany, France, Ireland and the United States, heavily Catholic Spain has not yet had an independent investigation of this kind. Worldwide, the Catholic Church has already been rocked by a series of sexual abuse scandals.