MADRID (SPAIN)
Catholic Vote [Madison, WI]
April 25, 2024
By CV News Feed
Spain’s Socialist government announced this week that they will establish a state-run compensation program for sexual abuse victims, and will make the Catholic Church pay for it.
In 2022, the Spanish government launched its own investigation into sexual abuse claims that concluded with an Ombudsman report published in 2023. The report only focused on sexual abuse victims of the Catholic church. On April 23, Spain’s Minister of the Presidency and Justice Félix Bolaños referred to that report in justifying the decision to have the Church pay for the compensations that will be set by the state.
“From that report, [Bolaños] said it was concluded that some 440,000 adults may have suffered sex abuse in Spain by people linked to the church and that roughly half of those cases were committed by clergy,” the Associated Press News reported.
But in the same report, AP News noted that: “…in a statement Tuesday, Spain’s Bishops Conference rejected the plan, saying it discriminated against victims outside of church circles.”
AP News also noted that when the Ombudsman’s report was first published, “Spain’s bishops apologized for the abuses committed by church members… but disputed the number of victims involving the church as exaggerated. That report accused the church of widespread negligence.”
There is currently no public information on the total compensation amount, but the Spanish government aims at “working with the Church” over the next four years in carrying out the finalized plan, according to Bolaños.