The Government has approved a Plan for the recognition and care of victims of pedophilia, all based on a fallacious and lying Report from the Ombudsman on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
In the Report of the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, some 500 testimonies were collected, many of them manifestly false, as was later demonstrated, and a survey to determine the prevalence of the phenomenon of sexual abuse.
Based on the sociological survey carried out, some media outlets extrapolated the percentages, maintaining that the victims in the religious sphere would be 440,000. It was an extrapolation that demos-copy experts described as “statistical delirium”, a devious lie.
The Cremades & Calvo Sotelo report proposed, based on credible complaints, an estimate of some 2,056 ecclesiastical victims and concluded that pedophilia in the Church is, comparatively, with that existing in society as a whole, very rare. Therefore, the problem is, certainly, ecclesial, but above all social. Finally, the Spanish Episcopal Conference defended in its report that it spoke of the existence of 806 complaints, of which 205 were proven.
With these data, the Church has objected to the Government that “the Church cannot accept a plan that discriminates against the majority of victims of sexual abuse”, because it is based on a condemnatory judgment of the entire Church without any type of legal guarantee, giving as good as a public and discriminatory accusation by the State. By focusing only on the Catholic Church, it addresses only a small part of the problem, in a partial analysis and hiding a large social problem.
The Catholic Church has already asked for forgiveness from the victims of pedophilia in the clergy. The Vatican endorses the work of the Spanish bishops in investigating the complaints that have been presented in diocesan offices. As well as the effort to both accompany the victims and help them as necessary.
The Church in Spain is committed to the protection of minors and the prevention of sexual abuse committed in its activity and, in general, throughout society.
The scourge of child abuse affects the entire society. That is why in the Spanish Church they have been working for years to eliminate it, accompanying and welcoming those who have suffered it most directly.
Welcome, listening, prevention and training are the keys in cases of abuse of minors and vulnerable people. The Catholic Church must assume the commitment to respectfully care for and educate, protect all minors and vulnerable adults in its care, creating safe communities where there is informed vigilance about the dangers of abuse.
Juan Andrés Segura – Enraizados Collaborator
