Over 200,000 children sexually abused by Catholic clergy in Spain, states probe

More than 200,000 minors have been sexually abused by the Roman Catholic clergy in Spain since 1940, as per the findings published by an independent commission on Friday (Oct 27).

No specific figure was mentioned by the report, but it said that in a poll of around 8,000 people it was discovered that 0.6 per cent of around 39 million people living in Spain said that they had been sexually abused bymembers of the clergy when they were young.

After abuse by lay members was included, the percentage increased to 1.13 per cent, making it nearly more than 400,000 people,said Spain's national ombudsman Angel Gabilondo at a press conference for presenting the report's findings.

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The revelations made in Spain are the latest to rock the Roman Catholic Church after many sexual abuse scandals were exposed around the world, which generally involve children, in the past 20 years.

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In Spain, a traditionally Catholic country that has become highly secular, clerical abuse allegations have started gaining traction now as the survivors continue making accusations.

"Unfortunately, for many years there has been a certain desire to deny abuses or a desire to conceal or protect the abusers," stated Gabilondo, a former education minister.

The report has criticised the Catholic Church's attitude and asked it to respond to the cases of child abuse which involved the "insufficient" clergy.

The report appealed for the creation of a state fund for paying reparations to the victims.

Findings to be discussed in extraordinary meeting

Before the presentation of the report in the parliament, the Spanish bishops conference stated that an extraordinary meeting would be held to discuss its findings on Monday (Oct 30).

In March 2022, Spain's parliament gave approval for the establishment of an independent commission led by the ombudsman of the country to "shed light" on allegations of sexual abuse of "defenceless boys and girls" which took place inside the Catholic Church.

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The Catholic Church of Spain, which clearly refused to carry out its own investigation, did not agree to participate in the independent investigation, although they co-operated by sharing documents on cases of sexual abuse which had been collected by dioceses.

With the increasing political pressure, a private law firm in February 2022 was tasked with an "audit" into past and present sexual abuse cases by teachers, clergy, and others who were associated with the Church and it was said that the audit should be completed by the end of the year.

(With inputs from agencies)

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