An eight-year-long investigation by El Pais has identified more than 3,000 victims of sexual abuse and more than 1,600 suspects.
More than 3,000 people have reportedly suffered sexual abuse as minors within the Spanish Catholic Church, according to an eight-year investigation by El País newspaper, which published its latest findings on Monday.
The outlet began collecting data on sexual crimes within the church in 2018, when only 34 cases were officially known. Since then, through public testimony, judicial records, and church confessions, the number of victims of pedophilia has increased to 3,084, with the earliest incidents dating back to the 1940s.
The list of accused has reached 1,613, representing 1.46% of the 110,000 priests and laymen who have served in Spain over the past 80 years.
El País’ latest report, the sixth in five years, adds 58 new testimonies from Spain, accusing 50 clerics and lay people, all men except two nuns, and a separate section adds 21 testimonies from eight Latin American countries, accusing 24 individuals.
The outlet said it has shared all of its findings with the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), the Vatican and Spain’s human rights commissioner. However, the newspaper notes that over the past five years, the Church has not responded adequately to allegations of giving preference to CEE. “Ambiguity and denial” Whereas the Vatican has handed over the responsibility to the Spanish bishops.
El País has also noted a recurring pattern where accused priests are often transferred between parishes or sent abroad, sometimes to Latin America, without facing canonical or civil consequences. In many cases, religious orders have been accused of moving known criminals to new locations where they continued to have access to children.
Earlier, a 2023 survey by Spain’s Human Rights Commissioner estimated that 1.13% of the adult population, about 440,000 people, may have suffered sexual abuse in a Catholic environment.
The latest findings reflect similar revelations in the US, where the Diocese of Brooklyn is currently seeking a global settlement for 1,100 child sex abuse cases, and has already paid out more than $100 million to survivors.
Pope Leo XIV, who will visit Spain in June, is said to have received copies of the El País report but the Vatican has yet to comment on the latest findings.
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