The Catholic Church has signed an agreement on compensation for sexual abuse

The Roman Catholic Church in Spain has reached an agreement with the government to compensate victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

The agreement follows complaints that religious leaders have failed to address the issue adequately.

This means that the government will handle possible compensation in coordination with the Church, handling cases where other legal means are no longer available because the alleged crime took place a long time ago or the individual accused has died.

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards are estimated by the government to have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Church figures. The move follows similar recovery procedures in other countries where abuse has been discovered.

“A democracy must not allow the existence of victims who have not been compensated (and) whose situation, on the contrary, is covered up,” said Justice Minister Félix Bolaños after the agreement was signed.

He added that the agreement seeks to “pay a historic, moral debt that we have to the victims of abuse within the Church”.

The other signatories are Luis Argüello, president of the Episcopal Conference and leader of the Spanish Catholic Church, and Jesús Díaz Sariego, president of the Confer, which represents Catholic congregations and religious orders.

Mr Sariego said the initiative was unprecedented because it dealt with crimes that exceeded the statute of limitations.

Argüello, who is the archbishop of Valladolid, described the agreement as “another step forward on the road that we have traveled for many years”.

A 2023 study by the Spanish ombudsman’s office, which investigates public complaints, estimated that 1.1% of the population suffered sexual abuse at the hands of members of the clergy or individuals associated with the Church – equivalent to 440,000 people.

The Church disputed these findings.

It established a reparations scheme that year to deal with abuses.

However, the Socialist-led government and victims’ organizations were dissatisfied with the scheme’s model, which did not allow input or management from outside the Church.

In November, the Church said 58 cases had been “resolved” under its framework.

However, critics have accused the institution of a lack of transparency and slowness.

The newspaper El País, which created a database of clerical abuse allegations, has documented cases involving 2,948 victims since the 1940s.

In June, several victims’ groups severed ties with the Spanish Church, saying they were excluded from seeking reparations.

The Vatican later appeared to take a more prominent role, with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors meeting with Spanish victims and urging the country’s Catholic leaders to strengthen and carry out reparations.

The meetings between Justice Minister Bolaños and the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, appear to have increased the pressure on the Church authorities in Madrid.

Under the new system, victims will be able to file their cases before a new agency created by the justice ministry, which will take them before the ombusdman’s office, which will make a reparation proposal.

The Church must agree to the proposed compensation – otherwise, the case will be referred back to the ombudsman.

Healing can be symbolic, psychological, or economic, according to the agreement. In each case, the Church is responsible for its implementation.

The amount of financial compensation that may be paid is not specified.

However, the ombudsman suggests following the lead of other European countries.

In Belgium, an average of €6,000 ($7,000; £5,210) is paid to victims in such cases, although the late Pope Francis described the amount as “very little”.

Ireland’s redress board pays an average of €63,000 to victims.

Sexual abuse by members of the clergy first received significant attention in the US and Canada in the 1980s.

In the 1990s, the issue began to grow, with stories emerging in Argentina, Australia and revelations of widespread historical abuse in Ireland.

In the early 2000s, sexual abuse within the Church was a major global story.

Spain, a Catholic country, was affected by several scandals at that time.

However, media investigations have brought the issue to light recently.

In the latest high-profile case, the bishop of Cádiz, Rafael Zornoza, resigned in November, following an accusation of abuse dating back to the 1990s.

Victims’ organizations welcome Spain’s new deal.

“This is an endemic, structural evil that already exists within the Church and that it should have been solved a long time ago instead of covering pedophiles,” said Juan Cuatrecasas, of the Association for Stolen Childhood (Anir), who said he was “absolutely satisfied”.