Spain to launch 1st major probe into Catholic Church sexual abuse cases

OVIEDO, Spain

The Spanish parliament voted on Thursday to create the country’s first commission to investigate sexual abuses committed by Catholic clergy.

The motion was passed by an overwhelming majority, with only the far-right party Vox opposing the historic investigation.

The commission will be coordinated by the country’s independent ombudsman and a group of experts. At the same time, the newly passed agreement will allow the parliament to collect testimony from victims who want to share their stores publicly.

“On one hand, there will be public testimonies ... On the other hand, there will be an authentic commission to find the truth. The proposed commission of experts will be granted with powers to force the church to cooperate if needed,” said Jaume Asens, head of the Unidas Podemos parliamentary group.

For years, the Spanish Episcopal Conference has refused to share the number of cases of sexual abuse it has identified within its ranks.

As there are no official statistics, leading Spanish daily El Pais has conducted its own investigation into the matter. So far, it has discovered 1,246 victims of sexual abuse at the hands of church officials over the last decades in Spain.

Roman Catholicism remains the dominant religion of Spain and was the official state religion during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

Since the 1990s, an increasing number of alleged abuses committed by clergy have come to light.

“Given that these violations, and their cover-up, have allegedly been committed for decades in a large number of countries around the world, as well as the tens of thousands of alleged victims, we note with great concern the apparent pervasiveness of child sexual abuse cases and the apparent systematic practice of covering up and obstructing the accountability of alleged abusers belonging to the Catholic Church,” wrote UN human rights experts in a June 2021 letter to the Holy See.

The same month, Spain’s Catholic governing body established its own protocols and offices where victims of sexual abuses could denounce crimes.