The indiscretion of the Pais: a dossier of 385 pages on 250 alleged child abuse
Pope Francis has decided to open an investigation into allegations of pedophilia against the Spanish Church after receiving a 385-page dossier regarding 251 new cases of child abuse by the clergy and some lay people of religious institutions in Spain. El Pais revealed it. The investigation is unprecedented. The Rome correspondent of El Pais, Daniel Verdu ‘, delivered the report to the Pontiff during the papal flight that led Francis to Cyprus and Greece. The Spanish newspaper, which took three years of work to verify all the accusations against the Church in Spain, explains that upon returning from his trip Pope Francis “moved quickly”, sending the dossier to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. El Pais also handed over the study to the president of the Spanish Bishops ‘Conference (Cee), Cardinal Juan Jose’ Omella, archbishop of Barcelona.
The oldest case in the dossier dates back to 1943 and the most recent to 2018. All, says El Pais, are unpublished, except 13 already published, which have been included because new complaints have arisen. «Most of the reports – writes the Spanish daily – speak of pedophiles who abuse dozens of children and behaviors that were an ‘open secret’. A common case is that of teachers who sexually assaulted the entire class, with several courses charged to them, and who have been in one or more schools for years. Estimates such as those used by experts in independent commission studies from other countries would multiply the figure to several thousand ”.
Once the El Pais dossier was known, Pope Francis spoke with the president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (Cee) Omella. The Vatican, as it usually does when the complaints are so numerous and do not belong to a single order, diocese or specific abuser, will supervise the entire process carried out by the EEC through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. El Pais also specifies that the vast majority of cases, 77%, concern religious orders, which are not under the authority of the bishops and the main congregations, having become aware of the complaints, have already opened an investigation.
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