Spain and the Catholic Church agree to a new system to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse, addressing a historical ‘moral debt’.

MADRID: The Spanish government and the Catholic Church have signed a landmark agreement to compensate victims of sexual abuse by clergy.

Justice Minister Felix Bolanos described the accord as a way to settle a historical “moral debt” owed to victims.

“For decades there has been silence, concealment, a moral harm often impossible to repair,” Bolanos told a news conference.

“This agreement allows us to settle a historical moral debt we owed to the victims of abuse.”

The new system will provide reparations to victims unable to pursue legal action, often due to statutes of limitations.

It marks the first time the Church in Spain will fund such reparations, having previously resisted participation.

Victims will submit complaints to the state ombudsman’s office, which will then propose reparations.

These may include financial, moral, psychological, restorative, or combined measures.

If either the victim or the Church rejects the proposal, a mixed commission will review it.

This commission will include representatives from the Church, the government, and victims.

Failing an agreement at that stage, the ombudsman’s recommendation will prevail.

Luis Arguello, president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), called the agreement “another step along the path we have been pursuing for years”.

He noted the Church already had internal mechanisms to compensate victims.

Bolanos credited the Vatican with providing “a necessary and essential impetus” for the deal.

He had previously discussed the matter with the late Pope Francis and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

The move follows a damning 2023 report by Spain’s ombudsman.

It found more than 200,000 minors had suffered sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy since 1940.

That number could rise to 400,000 if abuse by laypersons in religious settings is included.

The Church’s own records list 1,057 “registered cases”, with 358 deemed “proven” or “credible”.

Unlike in other nations, clerical abuse allegations in Spain only recently started to gain significant traction.

This has led to accusations by survivors of stonewalling by Church authorities.