SPAIN
Catholic News Agency
Granada, Spain, Nov 19, 2014 / 04:11 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Granada, Spain, has defended its response to the case of three priests accused of abusing an underage boy over a decade ago, offering solidarity to the alleged victim.
“From the moment credible reports of the accusations were filed before the Holy See by a young man from Granada alleging sexual abuse by a group of priests of the diocese, this archdiocese has scrupulously followed the procedures established by canonical discipline for these cases, which is available to all on the home page of the Holy See’s own website,” the archdiocese said in a statement this week.
The alleged sexual abuse took place approximately a decade ago, when the alleged victim was an adolescent. The now 24-year-old man recently filed a lawsuit against the priests.
“Once it was learned the lawsuit had been filed, the archbishop made himself available to civil authorities to collaborate in whatever way necessary, which he has done up to now,” the archdiocese said.
In response to reports in the media that he did not act soon enough in the case, Granada Archbishop Javier Martinez Fernandez told reporters in Madrid during the Spanish Bishops’ fall assembly that in mid-October the alleged victim asked him for a pause in ecclesial action against the priests in order to allow civil authorities to proceed with their case. He said civil authorities made the same request.
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