Bishops in Spain ask lawyers to audit their sex abuse record

Spain's Roman Catholic bishops have asked a private law firm to investigate past and present sexual abuse committed by clergy, members of religious orders and others associated with the church

Spain Clergy Sex Abuse (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

A Madrid-based law firm will conduct a year-long inquiry into past and present sexual abuse committed by Spain's Roman Catholic clergy. members of religious orders, teachers and other people associated with the church, the firm and the head of the country's bishops' conference said Tuesday.

The announcement, made before dozens of cameras and reporters, marked a departure from the previous position of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, which for years rejected the idea of taking a comprehensive approach to investigating sex abuse.

Cardinal Juan José Omella, the conference's president, said the goal of the inquiry by law firm Cremades & Calvo Sotelo “is the help and reparation of the victims, establishing new and additional channels to collaborate and denounce in addition to those existing in over 40 offices established by the Church.”

The inquiry is intended to cover all abuse and is not limited to investigating only cases from within a certain time period, according to Javier Cremades, the law firm's founder. It is also meant to complement separate initiatives launched by Spanish authorities, he and Omella said.

Cremades said that as a faithful Catholic himself, he was both overwhelmed by the task and “convinced that the Church must go to the end, get to the bottom, investigate, beg for pardon, if it’s necessary, and rectify everything that is necessary.”

He said that his firm would act pro-bono and only seek for the Episcopal Conference to pay logistical costs or the fees of external advisors.

Spanish lawmakers are discussing and expected to vote soon on the terms of a parliamentary investigation into the depths of the sexual abuse committed by Catholic clergy. The Spanish government has proposed having the country's ombudsman lead that inquiry.

Although some bishops and religious orders had individually expressed they were open to an inquiry, the Spanish Episcopal Conference previously rejected a comprehensive investigation, instead encouraging victims to report their allegations to diocesan offices.

Sexual abuse survivors were lukewarm to Tuesday's announcement.

Fernando García Salmones, a spokesperson for the Robbed Childhood Association, called it a “maneuver to deter attention.” He said the law firm's inquiry couldn't be taken seriously because the Church would dictate its terms.

"Would you task a study about the mafia's crime to the Corleone family?” said García Salmones, who is among a few victims in Spain who have received compensation from a religious order.

“They don't care about children or about the abused,” he said. “They only worry that their business keeps flowing," he added, referring to the many properties and Catholic schools managed by the Catholic Church in Spain.