Around 440,000 adults in Spain victims of sexual abuse in Catholic institutions: Report

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spain’s first official report on sexual abuse in Catholic institutions estimates that around 440,000 people — 1.13% of the country’s current adult population — were abused in their youth.

The independent 770-page report was compiled by Spanish Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo and submitted to Spain’s parliament on Friday.

“The cases were made possible by silence; silence from those who could have done more to avoid them,” Gabilondo said in a press conference.

He slammed the Catholic Church and other authorities for the “insufficient response” to victims, who were often “revictimized” when they sought justice.

“Some victims talked about how their claims were denied, frustrated or even how representatives of the institution blamed them for the abuse,” Gabilondo said.

Gabilondo also criticized the common practice of transferring abusers to other parishes, religious schools, or even to other countries.

The report aims to emphasize the “devastating impact” on the lives of the victims and offer a framework for authorities to address the decades of injustice in the Catholic church and Spanish society.

“I believe it’s inevitable, although the government must make it happen, for the church to collaborate in terms of financial reparations. And I believe that the church must be aware of this by now,” he said.

Gabilondo expressed optimism that some sectors of the church have improved in recent years regarding addressing sexual abuse. However, he acknowledged that some authorities within the church were angry and uncooperative during the investigation.

“We wrote to all the bishops… and some opened their archives… But not all of them. Some bishops scolded us, not only refusing to cooperate but also saying: ‘What are you doing messing around with this?’”

Spanish law does not require the Catholic Church to share its archives with Spanish investigators, but the ombudsman called for full access.

He also called for more support for those victimized by the Catholic Church, including financial and psychological reparations.

“People have killed themselves because of this; there are people who never recovered… who could never get over the pain,” he said.

The ombudsman’s office began the investigation after being commissioned by the government in July 2022. He said he wanted to get the report out quickly because “we’ve arrived late with this report in Spain. It’s been already done in countries all around us,” adding, “victims cannot wait any longer.”

The report estimated the number of victims based on a survey carried out by social research firm Gad3, which interviewed more than 8,000 people. It also took direct testimony from those who voluntarily came forward.

The Gad3 survey suggests that around 0.6% of the current adult population was abused by priests or other religious figures when they were young, while the remaining 0.53% of the total abuse was committed by lay people working in Catholic institutions.