Paloma H. ​​Matellano Madrid

Madrid

Updated Thursday, February 1, 2024-14:10

  • Religion The Cremades report concludes that sexual abuse is "a serious problem in the Church": "It has left a mark on a minimum of 2,056 victims"

  • Society The dance of figures in sexual abuse: the Church accuses Cremades of counting at least 305 complaints twice

More than

1.25 million euros.

It is the amount that the

Episcopal Conference

paid for the report on sexual abuse committed by members of the Church that it commissioned from the law firm

Cremades & Calvo Sotelo

. The audit, which counted at least 2,056 victims, arrived more than a year late and contradicts the figures that the Episcopal Conference had estimated in its own studies.

The general secretary of the Catholic institution,

Francisco César García Magán

, has acknowledged that the audit "was not cheap", but assures that its content is "valuable" and that it was a necessary investigation to "get to the truth." "The victims deserve that and more," he said.

García Magán has assured that the conclusions and suggestions provided by the Cremades report have been taken into account to prepare the 'comprehensive reparation plan for victims of sexual abuse' that the Episcopal Conference plans to approve in the month of March, in which it will also The observations of the Ombudsman are considered. From the ecclesiastical institution they value the "depth and professionalism" with which the report has been prepared and defend that Cremades had "absolute freedom" to determine who worked on the investigation.

Delay in compensation

At the same time, García Magán has announced the creation of a

national

Arbitration Commission

that will assume financial compensation for those cases that are not susceptible to judicial proceedings. Thus, this commission will study the complaints filed in the child protection offices that do not have a judicial process, either because the perpetrator has died or because the crime has expired.

This body will be made up of experts from different backgrounds, including jurists, doctors, psychologists and people from the canonical field. Its mission will be to evaluate the complaints presented and grant the financial compensation that corresponds to each victim, in cases in which they request it. However, García Magán has emphasized that these economic reparations correspond in the first instance to the perpetrator, and that only in the event that he cannot take charge will the ecclesial institution to which he belongs will be subsidiarily responsible.

Furthermore, the general secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference has criticized that the focus of attention is placed only on the economic issue, considering that the reparation of the damage suffered by the victims involves many more factors. "Reducing this issue only to the economic aspect seems to me to be a

commercialization of the victims

," ​​García Magán denounced, claiming to know first-hand cases in which the victims do not ask for financial compensation.

Thus, in its 'comprehensive reparation plan for victims of sexual abuse', the Episcopal Conference will establish a common guideline for action at the national level to offer victims "comprehensive reparation, seeking to respond to what each specific victim requires." . This plan aims to prevent cases of sexual abuse in the ecclesiastical environment from being repeated and will offer a personalized guideline for each victim according to what they request.