The Public Ministry has asked 17 regional prosecutors from all over Spain to submit within ten days all complaints of sexual abuse committed against minors in the clerical space, both in the Church and in any religious congregation. . This initiative puts the Episcopal Conference up against the wall.
With our correspondent in Spain, Francois Musseau
In 2019, the public prosecutor had already made such a request, but this time, this request is firmer, and gives a tighter and more demanding deadline.
It is for the Spanish government to establish an x-ray of the acts of pedophilia committed not only in recent years, but also in recent decades.
It is also about putting an end to the opacity of the Spanish Church. Which, unlike its equivalents in Portugal, France, Belgium and Germany, among others, refuses to really consider this scourge.
According to the Church, complaints must be dealt with individually by each bishopric, which will decide whether or not there should be economic reparation.
This is done in secret, and therefore no statistics can be established. The initiative of the public ministry seeks to oblige this same Church to react.
At the same time, several left-wing parties have demanded that the government set up a parliamentary commission of inquiry. If it sees the light of day, it will be a new pressure on the Spanish episcopate which, for the moment, opts for silence.
►Read again: Child crime in the Church in Spain, the law of silence and lies