Around 440,000 people have been victims of sexual abuse by the Catholic Church in Spain. The information has been provided by the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, in the Congress of Deputies.
The figures arise from a large survey carried out by the Ombudsman, in which more than eight thousand people were interviewed.
According to the Spanish newspaper El País, which cites data from this report, 1.13% of the adult population in Spain admits to having suffered sexual abuse by the Church, with 0.6% of these abuses committed by priests or deacons. and the rest by lay people who work in these institutions.
Ángel Gabilondo proposed a state compensation fund for the victims, who “deserve to be heard, cared for and compensated,” he stated during the press conference after the report was delivered, in which he denounced “the silence of those who could have done more to “prevent” pedophilia in the Church.
“Unfortunately, for many years there prevailed a certain desire to deny the abuse, or a desire to hide or protect the abusers, with the consequent contempt for the victims. Behaviors such as transferring abusers to other parishes or educational centers or other countries are examples of bad practices. practices,” she argued.
Ángel Gabilondo also highlighted the pain of the victims over the years and the need to repair and compensate for this suffering.
“Compensation must be determined through an official, professional and transparent procedure. It is also proposed to create a state fund to pay compensation to victims,” he stated.
For this reason, the Ombudsman asked the Church to open its files to the investigation and revealed that, during his investigation, not everyone wanted to collaborate.
“Some bishops reprimanded us, not only did they not respond, but they told us: ‘What are you, gentlemen, doing with this?’ Others sent us information empty of content, but others did it well, which shows that it can be done well,” he concludes.
The report of the Spanish Ombudsman has more than one hundred pages with testimonies from victims.
Source: TSF
