This is far below an initial assessment established in October. At least 2,056 minors have been victims of sexual violence within the Spanish Catholic Church, the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) estimated on Thursday. Far from the more than 200,000 victims estimated by an independent commission. According to the EEC, which cites in its document only part of the audit report, which was submitted to it in mid-December, the figure of “2,056 victims” can be “deducted” from the number of complaints filed to date. against members of the Church.
“It is, however, obvious that the real number” of victims “is higher” than this figure, specifies the EEC in this document, relating to the measures taken by the Church to deal with the abuse of minors. The audit in question, carried out by the law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, was ordered in February 2022 by the EEC. This is the first investigation on the subject of the Spanish Catholic Church, criticized for its opacity.
Nearly 1,400 complaints
The audit, which lists a total of 1,383 complaints but does not give the number of religious people who allegedly committed sexual assault, specifies that these victims are “mainly” men, and that the violence was committed mainly in “schools and seminars” by priests or professors.
In October, an unprecedented report from an independent commission estimated that more than 200,000 people were victims of sexual violence at the hands of Catholic clergy, or 0.6% of the adult Spanish population. This toll rises to more than 400,000 victims (1.13% of the adult population) if we take into account attacks committed by lay people in religious contexts, all faiths combined, according to this commission.
The president of the EEC, Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, then affirmed that the Church was aware of 1,125 cases and expressed doubts about the reliability of the figures put forward in the report of the independent commission of inquiry.