After decades of silence, the Spanish Catholic Church has finally and explicitly acknowledged its responsibility for the sexual abuse of minors, and it is doing so hand in hand with and under the watchful eye of the State. Specifically, under the oversight and mediation of the Ombudsman's office. It was about time. Better late than never. There is a great deal of work to be done. This should be just the beginning, and the Church should be the first to be interested in seeing this through to the end.

"It has been a complex, arduous, tough, and long negotiation, but we have reached the point we wanted, and we are more than satisfied." This is how the Spanish Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, described the negotiations with the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) and the Spanish Conference of Religious to reach an agreement for the "reparation and recognition" of victims of abuse within the Church. "Today, an indisputable step has been taken that brings justice," the minister emphasized during the presentation of the agreement's details this Thursday morning. Bolaños explained that the pact "meets all the requirements set forth by the Ombudsman" and establishes a joint system, between the State and the Church, to define how these compensations should be provided. Thus, a commission will be created to which victims can submit their requests for reparations, and these requests will be forwarded to a victims' unit, led by the Ombudsman, who will decide what reparations are appropriate in each case. "It can be economic, moral, psychological, or restorative reparation, or even all four at once," the minister explained. Once the compensation is defined, developed on a case-by-case basis, the proposal will be presented to both the victim and the Catholic Church, who will have to decide whether to accept it or not. If the parties agree, the proposal will be binding. Bolaños also emphasized that "of course" all reparations will be "paid for by the Catholic Church": "The State will not pay a single cent," he stressed. A prominent role for the Ombudsman

Conversely, if the Ombudsman's proposal does not satisfy either party, a new joint commission will be formed, which will also include victims' associations. This commission will work together to reach a consensus agreement that all parties consider fair. "If there is still no agreement in this second instance, then the Ombudsman's decision will prevail," the minister explained. "Thus, it is clear that the compensation will be decided by the State [the Ombudsman] and the Church will be the one to pay," he emphasized. Furthermore, the financial compensation will be tax-exempt, both for amounts agreed upon from now on and for those already received.

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Finally, Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta, Rafael Zornoza, after he was implicated in the First case of alleged pedophilia in the upper echelons of the Spanish ChurchIn its bulletin this Saturday, the Vatican announced that it has accepted the resignation of Bishop Zornoza, which he submitted fifteen months ago automatically upon reaching the age of seventy-five—the retirement age for clergy with a certain level of authority in the Catholic Church. Although the acceptance of Zornoza's resignation comes just eleven days after it was revealed that the Vatican was investigating the bishop for an alleged case of pedophilia, the Holy See did not specify the reasons for accepting the clergyman's withdrawal. Meanwhile, the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) issued a statement announcing that Pope Leo XIV appointed the auxiliary bishop of Seville, Ramón Darío Valdivia, as "apostolic administrator" of the Diocese of Cádiz and Ceuta this same Saturday. In the statement, the Conference made no reference to the investigation against Zornoza, but on Monday the president of the CEE, Luis Argüello, He met for the first time with Pope Leo XIV And he did confirm that the Pope was "informed" about the case of the now-former Bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta.

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The first alleged case of pedophilia within the upper echelons of the Spanish Church has emerged. The Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is investigating the Bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta, Rafael Zornoza, accused of sexually assaulting a minor between 1994 and the early 2000s in Getafe. The news was first reported by the newspaper. The Country And the Diocese of Cádiz has issued a statement denying the allegations: "The accusations made, referring to events that occurred almost 30 years ago, are very serious and, moreover, false." Meanwhile, the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello, acknowledges that the fact that the Vatican has opened an investigation "lends credibility to the accusation." The alleged events took place when Zornoza, now 76, was a priest in Getafe and directed the diocesan seminary. According to the victim's testimony, who sent the complaint by mail to the Vatican this summer, the abuse occurred continuously for almost seven years, from when she was 14 until she was 21. "The nights she came to my room, she suffered abuse. She would get on my bed, caress me, and kiss me. At times I didn't say anything; I was paralyzed," the man recounts in the letter to which this publication has had access. The CountryThe young man became a seminarian and confessed his homosexuality to Zornoza, prompting the priest to take him to therapy to "cure" him. When he finally mustered the courage to tell him that what he was doing was wrong—according to the victim's account—Zornoza argued that the relationship that had developed between them was the result of an "intimate friendship." Public activity canceled

The complainant did not realize he had been abused until several years later, after he had already left the seminary. At age 32, he emailed his abuser but received no reply. A few months ago, he went to see him, and according to his testimony, Zornoza admitted to the abuse and manipulation. The statute of limitations has expired for the legal proceedings, while the canonical investigation will be conducted by the superior of the Bishop of Cádiz, in this case, the Archbishop of Seville. For the time being, the accused has suspended all public activity, and the diocese expressed its "full confidence" in the justice system, while also requesting "respect for the presumption of innocence" of all individuals.

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The Archdiocese of Tarragona has removed a priest, FX Morell, for having sexually abused a minor in the early 1990s in Reus. The case reached Archbishop Joan Planellas in September 2022, and following an internal investigation, the file was sent to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican body that handles sexual abuse complaints. The file sent to Rome concluded that the case was statute-barred. However, the head of the Tarragona Church asked the Holy See to lift the statute of limitations in order to take action against the priest.

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