EL PAÍS launched an investigation into pedophilia in the Spanish Church in 2018 and did a database updated with all known cases. If you know of any cases that have not seen the light of day, you can write to us at: Abusos@elpais.es. If it is Latin America, the address is: abusesamerica@elpais.es.
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The diocese of Getafe removed one of its priests this summer for allegedly abusing a 17-year-old boy two days earlier, as confirmed by a diocese spokesperson. This is the fourth hidden case discovered by this newspaper in recent days in this Madrid episcopate, the same one in which a former seminarian denounced the current bishop of Cadiz, Rafael Zornoza, for pedophilia, when he was a priest in Getafe in the 1990s and rector of the major seminary. In the case of Zornoza, however, the complaint was presented to the Vatican four months ago, but no precautionary measures have yet been adopted against him and he has not been removed.
The bishopric of Madrid received an internal complaint against a priest of the diocese on August 18, two days after the events. A spokesperson for the episcopate specifies that “relevant precautionary measures” were then adopted, including “the ban on contact with minors”. The victim is a former student of the seminary where the priest worked until the end of last year, although the diocese underlines that the alleged abuses reported are not central.
This newspaper contacted the accused, who declined to give his version of events. “The matter is being handled by an attorney,” he said. The diocese, however, reported that the priest “remains innocent” and states that “no knowledge of any type of inappropriate behavior on the part of the accused has ever emerged”.
The episcopate opened a preliminary investigation and the case was reported by the family to the courts only weeks later. The Law on the Protection of Minors (Article 15) obliges anyone to “immediately report to the competent authority” any act against a minor that may constitute a crime. Furthermore, the law insists: «The obligation to communicate is particularly required of those people who, by reason of their position, profession, trade or activity, are entrusted with the assistance, care, teaching or protection of children or adolescents and, in the exercise of the same, have become aware of a situation of violence exercised against them».
The diocese claims to this newspaper that it did not inform justice because the family did not want to do so: “Given that the minor was duly protected, the most appropriate moment in his psychological journey was sought (…) The first complaint that was presented was the canonical one and once the previous investigations were concluded, we collaborated with the family in presenting the criminal complaint.” The bishopric reiterated its closeness to the victims and its “commitment against any type of abuse” and collaboration with Justice. “The complainant and his family are accompanied by the diocesan Office for Child Protection,” adds the spokesperson.
The diocese emphasizes that the case has nothing to do with the seminary where the accused worked and insists that the transfer to a parish took place in June, two months before the events reported. “The change in the school is due to a new project of the center and the seminary”, explains the diocesan spokesperson.
These new accusations emerge ten days after EL PAÍS made public that the bishop of Cadiz and Ceuta, Rafael Zornoza, is under investigation by the Vatican for sexual assault. Zornoza responded that the accusations were false, although he announced that he would suspend his activities due to illness. The Pope declared that for the moment “we must let the investigations continue” and then “the consequences will come”. The trial takes place in Madrid, at the Tribunal de la Rota of the nunciature, the Vatican embassy.
The new complaint in the diocese of Getafe adds to three others previously hidden and revealed by this newspaper last week, of the priests José María Carrascosa and Alberto Arrastia Cebrián, both deceased, and of a third with the initials JA F, currently in the diocese of Orihuela-Alicante and which is still active. In two of these complaints, Zornoza is mentioned as possibly having knowledge of the facts.
In the bishopric of Getafe, Zornoza has held one of the most influential positions since the diocese was created in 1991 and arrived there as secretary to the first bishop, Francisco José Pérez. Then he was rector of the major seminary from 1994 and in 2005 he was appointed auxiliary bishop, until in 2011 he was appointed bishop of Cadiz.
The three complaints known in recent days call into question the actions of the three bishops that Getafe has had since the diocese was created in 1991, separating from that of Madrid: Francisco José Pérez (1991-2004), now deceased; Joaquín María López de Andújar (2004-2018), now bishop emeritus; and the current one, García Beltrán.
When questioned about these cases, the diocese admitted that “the absence of protocols and guidelines has meant that in some old cases the complaints lodged have not always been handled adequately and quickly”.
The report of this newspaper, the only one known on pedophilia by the clergy of the Spanish Church, indicates that three other cases, six in total, are also recorded in the diocese of Getafe. One is a 2017 complaint from a woman accusing three priests (two were members of the Communion and Liberation order) of abusing up to 11 victims. The defendants were expelled from the clerical state.
Another case appeared in the press in 2010 and revealed that the diocese had welcomed priest José Poveda five years earlier, sent from Italy with a letter of recommendation after having abused at least 11 children in a parish in Rome. The diocese transferred him to Belmonte de Cuenca, his hometown. In 2007 he was appointed parish priest in Valdelaguna and, a year later, in Belmonte de Tajo. The then bishop López de Andújar assured that he only learned of the crimes in 2008 and sent him to a nursing home. He neither opened a canonical trial nor reported it to the authorities.
