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 bishops have taken a step back and will discuss with the government how to compensate victims of pedophilia who do not want to take advantage of the PRIVA ecclesiastical plan. This was announced last Friday by Francisco César García Magán, general secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (EEC), in the final press conference of the Plenary Assembly. The meeting took place in the midst of the Rafael Zornoza scandal, the first Spanish bishop still in office investigated for pedophilia by the Vatican.
The Church had always refused, until now, to collaborate with the government which had announced, twelve months ago, the approval of a plan to compensate the victims with a fund in which the Church would also collaborate. The Catholic institution has so far rejected this, arguing that abuse is not something exclusive to their religion, but rather occurs in all spheres.
When questioned on the matter, García Magán did not clarify whether the negotiations they are carrying out include the acceptance of a common fund paid by both. “The EEC guarantees those compensations that the dioceses cannot pay,” the general secretary simply replied.
Yes, he announced that the EEC executive commission had accepted the proposal of the Ministry of Justice. That is, “receive through the Guarantor the cases of people who do not wish to contact PRIVA”. This is how García Magán explained it: “We have accepted that general framework of reference and we are negotiating and moving forward to regulate in some way, through the Ombudsman, the cases that do not want to go to the Church.”
A year ago, in fact, what was called PRIVA was launched, the Global Reparation Plan for victims of abuse within the Church who cannot have judicial proceedings, either due to the death of the attacker or because the crimes have expired. Within this plan there is an independent advisory commission whose remediation proposals are non-binding. Dioceses may not accept the amounts, reduce them or cancel them directly. This newspaper revealed in September that the reparation plan promoted by the bishops is failing. Only 2% of victims were repaired.
Several victims’ associations met, just last Tuesday, with the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, to communicate to him the need to urgently respect the promise made by the government in 2023 to repair those affected by abuse in the clergy. They complain that the PRIVA is a long process – there are victims who requested it more than six months ago and are still waiting -, cumbersome, in which they feel like victims again and in which they do not have full trust because it is precisely the institution that did not know how to protect them during childhood that is in charge of investigating.
Compensation in the Treasury
This newspaper also revealed the failure of the system discovered by one of the compensated victims: therefore paying taxes on the total compensation. The Ombudsman asked the Treasury to apply an exemption to Church compensation, as already happens, for example, for victims of terrorism. The objective: to prevent the tax burden from worsening the damage suffered. The Secretary General of the EEC was asked, among other things, on this issue and stated that “obviously” the EEC was aware that compensations are subject to taxation. The victim who told her case to EL PAÍS assured that when she asked the archbishopric, no one could tell her if that money had a tax rate and they directed her to a tax advisor. García Magán assured him: “We have put the issue of taxation on the Government’s table in the conversations we have had since June. We have asked for a change in the legislation so that compensations are exempt from taxation.”
It is the only information provided on the negotiations with the government. For the rest, he continued to insist that these are confidential talks and that they continue to advance in that “big picture” to serve those victims who want to seek reparation, but not through the Church. According to García Magán, the Advisory Commission informed them that it had received and processed 101 cases so far. 58 of them “have already been resolved” and “11 will be resolved soon”.
The general secretary was also asked about Rafael Zornoza, that “elephant in the room that no one talks about”. Without going further, in Tuesday’s inaugural speech, Luis Argüello, president of the EEC, mentioned neither his name nor his position.
“I am referring to what the president and the Holy Father said. On the one hand, respect for the presumption of innocence to which everyone has the right, it would be good if it were given by the media. On the other hand, the right of the victims to present their cases before the competent authorities. In the case of the bishop of Cadiz and Ceuta there is an investigation open at the Rota court in Madrid and we must let the judges act. We are waiting for what the judge will say”, he replied.
Ten days after this newspaper revealed that the Vatican is investigating Rafael Zornoza, bishop of Cadiz and Ceuta, for repeated sexual violence against a minor in the 1990s, when he was rector of the Getafe seminary, he remains in his post. The Vatican received the complaint four months ago. 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. Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday that the investigation must be allowed to run its course and, once concluded, “the consequences will come.” The investigation takes place in Madrid, at the Tribunal de la Rota of the nunciature, the Vatican embassy. These processes can last several months.
Zornoza, who is 76 years old, is the first Spanish bishop to be investigated for pedophilia. He suspended his program the same Monday that El País published news of the Vatican investigation and said the victim’s reports were “false.” Within the bishopric there are two currents, the guaranteeist one, led by the president of the EEC, Luis Argüello, who appeals to the presumption of innocence and zero tolerance towards that guarantee expressed by the archbishop of Tarragona, Joan Planellas. This week he said in an interview with Public that in cases like Zornoza’s “precautionary measures” are applied. “The Church has learned or is learning from the issue of child abuse” and “clear” parameters need to be established.
García Magán was asked precisely about this; because there are cases, like the one discovered this Friday by this newspaper, of a Getafe prelate temporarily separated two days after receiving a complaint of abuse and because, however, the same thing did not happen with Rafael Zornoza. “There is a difference in authority: the cases referred to a bishop are the responsibility of the Holy See; those of a priest are diocesan”.
This did not avoid discordant voices within the bishopric, such as those of the aforementioned archbishop of Tarragona who asked for the application of precautionary measures. García Magán insisted on the presumption of innocence. “It is a legal figure for all people, there are alleged terrorists, alleged murderers, alleged thieves… It is up to the Holy See to decide. An investigation is underway at the Tribunal de la Rota, which is made up of highly qualified people.” In canon law, however, victims do not always have the status of “accuser”, which means that, even if they report and testify, the lawyer cannot question the accused. When asked if this system guarantees guarantees, García Magán replied: “Courts that have highly qualified personnel have a margin of autonomy in accordance with the law.”
