MADRID (SPAIN)
The Tablet [Market Harborough, England]
January 12, 2026
By Francis McDonagh
The Archbishop of Madrid confirmed the Pope will visit Spain this year, in apparent affirmation of Vatican support for the scheme after two years of dispute between Church and government.
Church authorities reached an agreement with the Spanish government to set up a process to support and compensate victims of sexual abuse in the Church.
The Minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with Parliament Félix Bolaños, the bishops’ conference president Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid and the president of the conference of Religious Fr Jesús Díaz Sariego OP signed the agreement on 8 January.
Under the new agreement, the Church will fund compensation while the office of the People’s Defender, or ombudsman, will monitor the amounts paid out according to a scheme designed to reach consensus between Church, state and victims’ representatives.
The agreement ends two years of dispute over the Church’s responsibility for abuse, dating from October 2023 when a report by Ángel Gabilondo, the Spanish People’s Defender or ombudsman, used a survey of 8,000 people to estimate that 1.13 per cent of people in Spain suffered abuse in a Church context, perpetrated by a cleric or a lay worker. The report avoided specifying the number of victims, but commentators suggested figures from 230,000 to 440,000.
Gabilondo, acting on a resolution of the Spanish Congress, was very critical of the Church’s objections to his investigations. “The response of the Catholic Church, at least on an official level, was characterised for a long time by denial or downplaying of the problem,” he wrote.
There was no progress in the discussions in 2024, with the bishops calling for early elections after allegations of corruption in the governing party were publicised. In January 2025 the bishops conference produced its own reparation plan, though without any discussion with the victims’ associations.
Government representatives finally took their concerns to the Vatican. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had an audience with Pope Francis in October 2024 while Bolaños met the Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin on two occasions.
The executive of the Spanish bishops’ conference held a meeting with Parolin in November 2025 before an audience with Pope Leo, after which it was clear that the Vatican supported the agreement with the government.
Speaking after the signing last week, Archbishop Argüello said Rome had given him “confirmation of their confidence that whatever we did together would be endorsed by them and, at the same time, encouragement to reach an agreement”.
Bolaños expressed gratitude for the role of the Holy See, which he said provided “indispensable impetus to reach this agreement” throughout two years of “complex and arduous” negotiations, during which there were “moments of extreme difficulty”.
After accompanying the conference executive on a further visit to the Secretariat of State on 9 January, the Archbishop of Madrid Cardinal José Cobo Cano confirmed that Pope Leo will visit Spain this year in apparent affirmation of the Vatican’s support for the settlement.
“Spain has long been in need and has continually asked for the Pope to come,” Cardinal Cobo said. “I believe that right now, opening this door is a source of hope.”
While he did not confirm any dates or itinerary for the visit, which he said was Leo’s “own personal initiative”, Cobo said it would include a visit to the Canary Islands, a fulcrum of irregular migration from Africa to Europe. More than 1,900 people died in attempts to reach the islands in 2025, according to official estimates.