The investigation so far commissioned by the Catholic Church of Spain into the sexual abuse of children, the perpetrators of which are mainly priests and lay people, has identified 1,383 reports and 2,056 victims, an audit of the investigation showed.
The results of the audit of the current investigation, led by the “Kremades” law firm, were included in a more than 1,000-page report published by the Church.
The Spanish bishops’ conference estimated there were about 1,000 cases of abuse to speak of after cross-examining various reports, which showed some cases may have been dealt with several times, but admitted there were still many unreported cases.
“The data contained in this report will never be definitive. It is important to remember that certain cases of abuse happened too long ago to come to light and that some victims do not want to talk about it,” the statement said.
The announcement emphasizes that the Church is ready to find out about all the cases and help the victims overcome it and prevent similar cases in the future.
According to a survey by the ombudsman for human rights in Spain, almost one in two hundred Spaniards is a victim of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
The ombudsman sent a report to the parliament in which he criticizes the Church for the lack of full cooperation in the investigation and for trying to minimize everything.
Spain’s Catholic Church, which has issued an apology, said it would pay compensation to victims of sexual abuse in cases that were not closed because the perpetrator died, Srna news agency writes.
Photo: archive
