Spain presents proposal to investigate sexual abuse in the Catholic Church

Ombudsman could be the one who investigates cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in Spain

This Monday a proposal was presented in the Congress of Deputies, by the Socialist Parliamentary Group of Spain, where they requested that the Ombudsman proceed to carry out the respective investigations into sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic Church.

With this, the socialist group seeks to "initiate a work that will conclude with a report from the Ombudsman, carried out by a commission of experts, which will include representatives of the administration, as well as experts in other areas, and in which the representatives of the Catholic Church are expected to be present," informed Héctor Gómez, emissary of the socialist group.

"We believe that this is the best way, because our priority is to protect the victims and although many have publicly expressed their experiences, there are others who prefer to remain anonymous," added Gómez.

This decision was made in response to those who called for an exhaustive and strong investigation into the cases of sexual abuse carried out in Spain.

In addition, the proposal came about in response to the many people who publicly requested that a "truth platform" be created to know the real statistics, and also the magnitude of the situation in the Catholic Church.

Miguel Hurtado is one of those who a few years ago claimed to have been abused by Andreu Soler, a Benedict monk, when he was only 16 years old.

Response of the Episcopal Conference in Spain

In recent years there have been many who have been filled with courage to expose their cases of sexual abuse.

For these reasons, the Episcopal Conference of Spain has been constantly criticized for its desire to create an investigation commission that works independently. Request that has been rejected on all occasions.

Precisely, on January 14, Cardinal Juan José Omella, who chairs the organization, declined the possibility of activating a process like this, because he assured that the mechanisms they chose internally are sufficient to control the situation.

"There is no need to multiply entities. In each diocese there is the part of the courts and the service of attention to the victims", expressed Omella.

Likewise, the cardinal explained that in case of any suspicion of abuse, it will be investigated through each of the jurisdictions.

"We have set up commissions in each diocese to collect complaints, accompany people who feel hurt and thus prevent these things from happening again in the future. We believe that it is the closest treatment for people," Omella pointed out.

Today the exact number of people who have been victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in Spain is not known. But it was known through a spokesman for the Spanish Episcopal Conference, that the institution has since 2001, a total of 220 registered investigations against some of its members.

In order to obtain greater accuracy regarding the cases that are under investigation, this January 31, the State Attorney General's Office requested the Superior Prosecutor's Offices of each Autonomous Community to submit all documents related to this type of crime.

It was learned that they were given 10 business days to collect what was requested. This was reported by a representative of the Public Ministry.