Six months ago, the Ministry of Justice asked the Episcopal Conference to provide "all information under its belt on investigations or internal procedures for allegations of sexual assault and abuse in ecclesiastical institutions." The Department headed by Dolores Delgado continues without these data and, in view of the position of the Church, will never have them.

Luis Argüello , secretary general and spokesman for the episcopate confirms that "the request of the Ministry of Justice arrived in early February, first through the media." The secretary of the bishops also confirms that the EEC responded to the Government: «We answer in the same way that neither the Ministry can without further request data from an institution nor does the Conference have the data that, in this case, are from the Dioceses, Congregations Sisters and Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Holy See ».

At unofficial request, unofficial response. "That same day in the afternoon [February 7] the letter arrived, to which we have not responded," says Argüello himself. And he explains the Church's reasons for not answering the ministerial requirement: «In the Ministry, where the General Directorate of Religious Affairs is, you already know, by previous requests, what the Conference can do and what not, always from a desire of colaboration. We have not formally replied, therefore, to that letter.

"It doesn't help to just look at the Church"

When the Fiscal Ministry published its report on abuses, the Episcopal Conference answered, once again, questions from the press, through the mouth of Arguello himself. «We express our desire to collaborate and express our concern about the confusion that public opinion involves talking about the Church and offering general data on abuse. A poorly informed reader and without knowing the report in its entirety might think that the hundreds of annual issues of abuse were related to the Church, ”explains the secretary general.

Argüello is aware that "the data made public in the Report show the seriousness of the matter." And he also recognizes "the unique responsibility of the Church, but it does not help to address the problem in its magnitude, to set eyes on it alone."

And he concludes by calling for the responsibility of the whole society and all its institutions in the face of the plague of abuses: «The gravity of the abuses means that the whole society is called to reflect on its causes and the means to avoid them, prevent them, report them and attend to all victims. The Church has already taken very important steps, and wants to continue doing so, in collaboration with the institutions involved. Surely we can offer our experience, to help other institutions and learn from the steps taken by others ».

The Prosecutor's Office rejects that the Church screens cases

Argüello recalls that "that the Ministry has the channel of the Fiscal Ministry to know the situation, as is done every year in the report of the Fiscal Ministry at the beginning of the judicial year." In fact, the Government also submitted the request for information to the Prosecutor's Office. The Public Ministry did respond formally and in writing last April.

The prosecutor's brief included two specific requests. First, that the Church stops screening the complaints or suspicions that come to it and immediately transfers them to the authorities. Second, that their educational centers adopt anti-abuse protocols that already exist in the public.

What did not include the Attorney General's Office directed by María José Segarra were the disaggregated data requested by the Government. The Public Ministry reported that it only had general data for such crimes, but without specifying whether they had any connection with the Church. Thus, the Government has not obtained specific data by either of the two routes it had activated.

The general figures on sexual abuse or aggression against minors in any field showed that in 2018 prosecutors filed 1,091 accusations for this type of crime. The majority were abuses (761), followed by exhibitionism and provocation (144) and sexual assaults (137). There were 26 accusations for rape, that is, for cases of aggression with penetration. As for the convictions, 737 were issued, a significant increase from 560 two years ago. Again about two thirds of the cases were sexual abuse. There were 13 convictions for violation.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Dolores Delgado
  • Sexual abuse
  • Religion

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