How is Spain dealing with the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal?

Fernando Garciá-Salmones has long found it difficult to accept his own reflection in the mirror.

When he was a schoolboy, only 14 years old, a priest named José María Pita da Veiga started sexually assaulting him. Fernando says, “The vulture made the little mouse feel guilty”.

“The priest came to me on a rainy day and asked me to go upstairs and dry off in his room and that’s when it started,” he said.

The abuse lasted almost a year. Speaking to Euronews, Fernando explained that many of the after-effects of sexual abuse are indelible.

“There is a destruction of the capacity to love, a complete disconnect between sexuality and affection, mistrust, a permanent sense of guilt, a devastating fear of loneliness,” he revealed.

Pioneering media investigations

In October 2018 the Spanish newspaper El País started the first investigation to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. There were only 34 victims registered at that time.

Three years later, it opened an extensive database of more than 1,700 abuse survivors.

Julio Nuñes, a journalist at El País, told Euronews: “The main impetus was the creation of the mailbox set up by the newspaper El País. It created an umbilical cord that connected the victims to someone who could articulate and corroborate their story. “

The Spanish Bishops’ Conference says it has no say in the various Catholic orders where cases of abuse have occurred. It admits the response is “slow” but insists they are doing everything they can to help, including establishing 200 offices to assist victims.

“Whatever society does, whatever the Church does, it is a pain that they carry in their hearts and that must be respected,” said José Gabriel Vera, communications director of the Bishops’ Conference.

The Church proposes to meet each of the victims in person to know their case and their story, to know their names and to understand how they can be helped. Either from a pastoral point of view, which is the role of the Church, or from a legal point of view.”

Creating a ‘complete picture’ of pederasty in the Catholic Church

The Spanish Church has discovered a total of 506 cases. Last March, Spain’s Congress of Deputies commissioned an independent ombudsman to begin work on a report on cases of pederasty in the Catholic Church and the role of the government. It is the first official survey to be conducted in Spain.

To achieve this goal, he has set up a panel of independent experts. The commitment goes beyond what was agreed with the political representatives.

“It is also a report for the victims themselves, so that they can see their own situation and see that measures will be taken to claim responsibility and seek compensation,” explains ombudsman Angel Gabilondo.

The Ombudsman hopes that the Spanish Church will keep its promise to cooperate and help create a complete picture of these crimes.