The commission will aim at ending decades of impunity and review protocols for prevention and care for victims

The Esquerra parliamentary group in the Spanish Congress introduced a motion on Wednesday together with Unidas Podemos-ECP and EH-Bildu requesting the establishment of a commission of inquiry into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, a situation sustained for decades and hidden by a network of complicities and cover-ups that had not begun to be unveiled and reported until recently, thanks to the courage of those who were victims in their childhood and teens.

“The time for impunity is over,” said congresswoman Pilar Vallugera, who introduced the motion on behalf of Esquerra. “It has gradually been made known that these practices were common and that they have been covered up.” “What we demand,” she added, “is reparations for the victims, who remain so throughout their lives, in order to reveal the truth and clarify possible political responsibilities in the concealment of the facts, and to investigate thoroughly so that everyone is answerable for their acts.” For Ms Vallugera, the process of restorative justice, the reparations for the victims “and the recognition of facts that have caused so much pain” are all essential.

Cases of paedophilia within the Catholic Church have been a serious problem worldwide, including Catalonia and Spain. The aim of the commission is to investigate the existence of networks and structures within the Catholic Church “that facilitate, perpetuate and cover up sexual assault in childhood and adolescence,” and the relationship with the public administration.

The inquiry is also meant to evaluate how far public bodies were aware of these criminal practices, to derive possible political responsibilities, and to follow-up with the victims of aggressions in order to strengthen protocols and eradicate this scourge that has for so long been anonymous.

On behalf of Esquerra Republicana, the motion was endorsed by the group’s spokesman in Congress Gabriel Rufián, and deputy spokeswoman Carolina Telechea. If approved, the commission would be made up of four representatives from the parties with over 50 Congress members and two from the rest, and hearings would be held for a period of six months, which may be extended.

The groups introducing the motion consider that public authorities must ensure “the adoption of effective mechanisms of prevention, transparency in investigations, and publication of the information for the victims,” while also ensuring that protocols for prevention and intervention are elaborated and amended.” They conclude that such oversight clearly does not appear to have existed until now, or has at least been inefficient.

Evidence of the magnitude of the problem on a global scale arose from an independent commission that revealed the results of its investigation in France a few weeks ago: since 1950, between 2,900 and 3,200 religious paedophiles have been identified, which increases to
330,000 if the laypersons involved in church work are counted. The number of victims comes to 216,000.

For Esquerra Republicana, Unidas Podemos and EH-Bildu, the Spanish state must undergo a similar exercise so as to end the cover-up of so many years and with so many victims, and all indications are that the data would be as alarming as that published in France.

In statements to the media before the Congress register, Ms Vallugera expressed the wish that the other political groups, referring specifically to the Spanish Socialist PSOE, should not hinder the creation of this commission of inquiry, as otherwise it might be interpreted as continued collusion in certain spheres to hide this drama.