News by email Donate

Suggestions

Top Stories

Most Read

Popular Videos

child-abuse-main_article_image_galleryfull.jpg
child-abuse-thumb_galleryfull.jpg
World News

Spanish prosecutor to gather information on Catholic Church child abuse

by Reuters Journalist


Spain's public prosecutor has ordered regional offices to look into all ongoing judicial investigations into the sexual abuse of minors by the Catholic Church, while parliament took a first step towards potentially opening its own investigation.

The prosecutor has given each region 10 days to compile the information, a prosecutor source told Reuters on Tuesday.

Spain's Bishops' Conference did not reply to a request for comment. 

The move comes after Spain's Catholic Church said last month it would set up commissions at diocese level to hear complaints from abuse victims, following a meeting by its senior leaders with the Pope in Rome.

The Spanish Church has a special page on its website on how to handle abuse cases where it says when a complaint is made to the Church all evidence gathered would be sent directly to the Vatican. It also encourages victims to come forward and file the case at the prosecutor's office.

El Pais newspaper in December published the results of a three-year investigation it said uncovered potential abuse by 251 priests and some lay people from religious institutions against at least 1,237 victims between 1943 and 2018.

Last week, Spain's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with Juan Jose Omella, the president of Spain's Bishops' Conference, and will meet this week with one alleged victim of abuse. 

The government said in a statement that the prosecutor, which operates independently, was acting "within the scope of its autonomy and competences". 

"These actions do not replace the measures that the government is considering in order to clarify the facts and avoid further cases," it said in a statement.

Separately, Spain's parliament approved a vote on a motion by some small leftist parties for it to set up its own investigation into the issue, though any such commission would take time to materialise and would likely face opposition from right-wing parties.

Sexual abuse scandals in the global Catholic Church first hit the headlines in 2002, when U.S. daily the Boston Globe wrote a series of articles exposing a abuse of minors by clerics and a widespread culture of concealment within the Church.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of cases have emerged around the world.

A Monthly Gift Of $11 Makes A World Of Difference

In a world of fake news there’s never been a greater need for quality Christian journalism. Premier’s mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. But we can’t do it without you.

Unlike many websites we haven't put up a paywall — we want to keep our journalism free at the point of need and as open as we can. Premier’s news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. No one in the USA is sharing news like we are across radio, magazines and online so please help us to continue that today.

For a monthly gift of $11 or more we’d also be able to send you a free copy of the brand new Premier Bible, a wonderful Anglicised version of the NLT packed with exclusive bonus content, reading plan and resources to help you get the most out of scripture.

Your monthly support will make a world of difference. Thank you.

Support Us
Continue the conversation on our Facebook page

Related Articles

Sign up to our newsletter to stay informed with news from a Christian perspective.

News by email

Connect

Donate

Donate