83% of the victims are men, according to the provisional balance corresponding to two months of work
The Ombudsman has served 201 victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, according to information released yesterday, the day the advisory commission met for the second time to prepare a report on clerical pederasty.
The head of the institution, Ángel Gabilondo, declared himself satisfied “with the pace of arrival of the testimonies and the number of victims who have addressed” the agency in the two months that the investigators have been working. “What really matters and worries us, more than the number, is listening to the victims and doing it with respect, seriously, discreetly and confidentially,” said Gabilondo. The mission of this advisory commission, made up of 17 experts, is to clarify the facts and point out responsibilities, as well as to propose reparation procedures for the victims.
83% of the people who reported cases of abuse were men (167), and the rest (34), women. “Victims who decide to contact us can count on the guarantee of confidentiality,” the Ombudsman stressed. The 201 testimonies have been collected by telephone, email, post or through the agency’s website. Of all the victims, 67 have been interviewed by specialized technicians. All these data have been transferred to the Advisory Commission created by the Ombudsman to prepare a report that will be submitted to the Congress of Deputies, by virtue of the mandate approved by the Lower House.
The Catholic Church is not institutionally represented on the commission, although there are people linked to it within the Commission. This is the case of Letizia de la Hoz, a lawyer from the Apostolic Nunciature; Miguel García-Baró López, Professor of Philosophy at the Comillas Pontifical University, or Ana Laura Zugaza Aizpuru, theologian and former member of the Bilbao diocesan council.
The Ombudsman has enabled different channels so that victims of sexual abuse can be heard. They can contact us through the free telephone number 900 111 025, the email [email protected] and the postal mail, as well as they can go personally to the entity’s offices.
Clergy ratio
In light of research carried out in other countries, the proportion of clerics implicated in abuse ranges between 3% and 4%. This is revealed by a study by Gemma Varona, a researcher at the Basque Institute of Criminology at the University of the Basque Country (UPV) who has investigated the matter in collaboration with the University of Barcelona and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).
Although they refuse to participate in the commission of the Ombudsman, the bishops have commissioned the law firm Calvo Sotelo & Cremades to investigate clerical pederasty. The Church is willing to open its archives to find out the truth as long as civil and canonical legislation is respected and data protection is protected, although it believes the importance it is giving to the matter is exaggerated.
Access to internal Church documents is a heartfelt claim by the victims’ associations, which are divided on the usefulness of the assignment made by Parliament to Congress, since they understand that the Ombudsman lacks the necessary powers to reach the Deep inside the affair. The institution will indeed issue recommendations to prevent the repetition of such a violation of rights.
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