'The escape, hidden truths', the 3Cat documentary that denounces the impunity of sexual aggressors
The public television premieres an investigative work focused on abuse of minors by religious figures
BarcelonaIn June 2024, 3Cat's Sense ficció aired La fugida, the documentary about sexual abuse of minors by the Jesuits of Casp and the Sant Ignasi de Sarrià School. That investigative journalism work continues this week with the premiere this Tuesday of La fugida, veritats ocultes, a production that expands the investigation with new cases and emphasizes the mechanisms of cover-up of aggressors by religious congregations and schools. The documentary will have two broadcast windows: it can be seen on Sense ficció at 10:05 p.m. and will also be available on 3Cat in an expanded version of three episodes (the broadcast on conventional television combines the three parts into a single episode).
La fugida, veritats ocultes, a documentary by journalist Guillem Sánchez produced by 3Cat, Ottokar, and El Periódico de Catalunya, denounces four individuals responsible for child abuse: Josep Blay, a priest in a parish in Alella (Maresme); the escolapi Manel Sales, a missionary in Senegal; Joaquim Calvet, a professor at Escola Pare Manyanet; and Arnaldo Farré, from the Marists. "What we do is delve into cases that have occurred, again, in religious schools, silenced abuses, and the specific case of the sending of Manel Sales to Senegal," explains Guillem Sánchez, a journalist for El Periódico de Catalunya. The head of the documentary assures that one of the objectives of this investigative work is "to put a face to the abusers." "You are shocked because in this documentary you see how the abusers are not aware of what has happened, they relativize the abuses," he points out.
The documentary is constructed through three concepts. Firstly, cover-up; that is, it shows how certain internal dynamics of religious congregations and schools favor opacity and the silencing of abuse of minors, and how this has consequences for the victims. Secondly, it also focuses on impunity and shows how, on many occasions, cases of sexual abuse fall outside the judicial process. Finally, through the concept of "brotherhood," it explores the mechanisms of protection and impunity of abusers when they are part of a religious institution. In the series format, each of these concepts gives its title to one of the three episodes.
Awakening society
According to Sánchez, one of the documentary's objectives has been to show the journalistic work "against the cover-up, and also to show how decades of silence are fought against from a journalist's point of view." "People will see how religious orders confirm to the journalist those things that the victims had already told him. They are never ahead and could be," he says. "After much insistence, what they do is confirm what you have already been able to verify," he adds. For his part, Josep Morell, a journalist for the production company Ottokar and also director of the documentary, points out that the documentary was born with the aim of challenging society so that people ask themselves questions. "What happens to abusers when crimes prescribe? These documentaries must be able to provoke religious institutions to review their protocols and also for some of the victims to feel less alone," assures Morell.
3Cat highlights that this type of research work is an example of the television's public service commitment. "These documentaries are public service, they are journalistic research and in some way they must serve as reparation for the victims. The fact that a public medium can make these documentaries makes the impact on society very great," explains Montse Armengou, director of Sense ficció.