Spain's Catholic Church said Friday it will receive an audit it ordered into child sexual abuse by members of the clergy on December 15, after an independent commission estimated over 200,000 victims.&nbsp;

The Church in February 2022 tasked private law firm Cremades &amp; Calvo-Sotelo with an audit into past and present sexual abuse by clergy, teachers and others.&nbsp;

The move was labelled as a "smokescreen" by a victim's association which have long accused it of stonewalling and denial. &nbsp;

Unlike in other nations like France, Ireland and the United States, in Spain -- a traditionally Catholic country that has become highly secular -- clerical abuse allegations are only now gaining traction. &nbsp;

The audit was originally expected to be delivered within a year but was delayed.&nbsp;

The law firm will now deliver the report on December 15, the secretary general of the Spanish Bishops Conference, Francisco Garcia Magan, told a news conference, but he did not say when it would be made public.&nbsp;

Watch | Spain: Protest in Madrid against Prime Minister's Catalan Amnesty deal

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Last month, Spain's first independent probe into the issue estimated that over 200,000 minors had been sexually abused in the country of around 39 million people by Roman Catholic clergy since 1940. &nbsp;

The report did not give a specific figure, but said a poll of over 8,000 people found some 0.6 percent of Spain's adult population said they had suffered sexual abuse by members of the clergy when they were still children. &nbsp;

The percentage rises to 1.13 per cent -- or over 400,000 people -- when including abuse by lay members, according to the results of the probe which was led by Spain's national ombudsman. &nbsp;

In a message posted to social media after the report's publication, Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, president of the Episcopal Conference, said the Church was aware of 1,125 cases of sexual abuse.&nbsp;

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Omella on Monday rejected  "the dubious reliability of the results" of the independent probe and called for "an exhaustive and impartial examination of the data" that was used for what he called  "malicious purposes".&nbsp;

The independent commission recommended the creation of a state compensation fund for victims, an idea supported by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.&nbsp;

But Spain's Catholic Church has ruled out taking part in such a fund if it is set up exclusively to compensate victims clerical abuse, and not all minors who are victims of sexual abuse in any setting. &nbsp;

To do so would be "discrimination", said Omella.&nbsp;

The Spanish Bishops Conference said Friday it would draw up a "comprehensive reparation plan for the victims" that will apply even if the statute of limitations for the abuse has expired or the perpetrator has died. It gave no further details.&nbsp;

Spain's Catholic Church said Friday it will receive an audit it ordered into child sexual abuse by members of the clergy on December 15, after an independent commission estimated over 200,000 victims.

Spain's Catholic Church said Friday it will receive an audit it ordered into child sexual abuse by members of the clergy on December 15, after an independent commission estimated over 200,000 victims. The Church in February 2022 tasked private law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo with an audit into past and present sexual abuse by clergy, teachers and others. The move was labelled as a "smokescreen" by a victim's association which have long accused it of stonewalling and denial.  Unlike in other nations like France, Ireland and the United States, in Spain -- a traditionally Catholic country that has become highly secular -- clerical abuse allegations are only now gaining traction.  The audit was originally expected to be delivered within a year but was delayed. The law firm will now deliver the report on December 15, the secretary general of the Spanish Bishops Conference, Francisco Garcia Magan, told a news conference, but he did not say when it would be made public. Watch | Spain: Protest in Madrid against Prime Minister's Catalan Amnesty deal × Last month, Spain's first independent probe into the issue estimated that over 200,000 minors had been sexually abused in the country of around 39 million people by Roman Catholic clergy since 1940.  The report did not give a specific figure, but said a poll of over 8,000 people found some 0.6 percent of Spain's adult population said they had suffered sexual abuse by members of the clergy when they were still children.  The percentage rises to 1.13 per cent -- or over 400,000 people -- when including abuse by lay members, according to the results of the probe which was led by Spain's national ombudsman.  In a message posted to social media after the report's publication, Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, president of the Episcopal Conference, said the Church was aware of 1,125 cases of sexual abuse. Also Read | Spain: Minor girls fall victim to deepfake porn, AI-generated nudes shock the nation Omella on Monday rejected  "the dubious reliability of the results" of the independent probe and called for "an exhaustive and impartial examination of the data" that was used for what he called  "malicious purposes". The independent commission recommended the creation of a state compensation fund for victims, an idea supported by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. But Spain's Catholic Church has ruled out taking part in such a fund if it is set up exclusively to compensate victims clerical abuse, and not all minors who are victims of sexual abuse in any setting.  To do so would be "discrimination", said Omella. The Spanish Bishops Conference said Friday it would draw up a "comprehensive reparation plan for the victims" that will apply even if the statute of limitations for the abuse has expired or the perpetrator has died. It gave no further details.

Spain Church audit report into sex abuse to be ready next month

Pope Francis&rsquo; sex abuse panel will provide training to newly appointed bishops on how to deal with child abuse. 
 
Francis set up the panel to root out sexual molestation by priests. 
 
The move, announced on Monday, is a big step for the panel, made up of clerics and lay people, including women, mostly with little previous Vatican experience, that has struggled to be fully accepted within the Church&#39;s power structure. 
 
The decision to draw on the expertise of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors comes after a French monsignor who taught so-called &quot;baby bishops&quot; courses for new Church leaders, caused an uproar by telling them they did not necessarily have to report abuse to civil authorities. 
 
Cardinal Sean O&#39;Malley of Boston, the president of the commission, later rebuked monsignor Tony Anatrella. He said bishops had &quot;a moral and ethical responsibility&quot; to do so. 
 
The worldwide sex abuse scandal first came to light in Boston in 2001 when it was revealed that predatory priests were shunted from parish to parish instead of being defrocked and handed over to the police. 
 
Francis has compared the abuse of children by priests to devil worship and vowed a &quot;zero tolerance&quot; approach, setting up the commission in 2014, a year after taking office, to advise him on how to root out sexual abuse within the Church. 
 
But the slow pace of change in the Vatican has not received a positive response from some of the commission members.&nbsp; 
 
To add to that, a British member who went public with his criticisms was put on leave of absence after the panel passed a no-confidence motion in him. 
 
Peter Saunders, head of Britain&#39;s National Association for People Abused in Childhood, who was abused by two priests as a child, called for the commission to go beyond its advisory mandate and speak out on specific cases. 
 
The commission has decided it will participate in two courses in the Vatican for new bishops, including the one that the French monsignor Anatrella spoke to last year. 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters)

The move is a big step for the panel, made up of lay people, that has struggled to be fully accepted within the Church's power structure

Pope Francis’ sex abuse panel will provide training to newly appointed bishops on how to deal with child abuse. Francis set up the panel to root out sexual molestation by priests. The move, announced on Monday, is a big step for the panel, made up of clerics and lay people, including women, mostly with little previous Vatican experience, that has struggled to be fully accepted within the Church's power structure. The decision to draw on the expertise of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors comes after a French monsignor who taught so-called "baby bishops" courses for new Church leaders, caused an uproar by telling them they did not necessarily have to report abuse to civil authorities. Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, the president of the commission, later rebuked monsignor Tony Anatrella. He said bishops had "a moral and ethical responsibility" to do so. The worldwide sex abuse scandal first came to light in Boston in 2001 when it was revealed that predatory priests were shunted from parish to parish instead of being defrocked and handed over to the police. Francis has compared the abuse of children by priests to devil worship and vowed a "zero tolerance" approach, setting up the commission in 2014, a year after taking office, to advise him on how to root out sexual abuse within the Church. But the slow pace of change in the Vatican has not received a positive response from some of the commission members. To add to that, a British member who went public with his criticisms was put on leave of absence after the panel passed a no-confidence motion in him. Peter Saunders, head of Britain's National Association for People Abused in Childhood, who was abused by two priests as a child, called for the commission to go beyond its advisory mandate and speak out on specific cases. The commission has decided it will participate in two courses in the Vatican for new bishops, including the one that the French monsignor Anatrella spoke to last year. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Pope's sex abuse panel to help new bishops improve child protection

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Spain Church audit report into sex abuse to be ready next month

Pope's sex abuse panel to help new bishops improve child protection