Leo XIV asks the Spanish bishops to act against the "plague" of pedophilia: "Justice and reparation"

MadridAt the headquarters of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, in front of all the bishops, who were wearing the zucchetto, Pope Leo XIV called this Monday for decisive action against the "pederasty" perpetrated by priests and religious of the Catholic Church: "Justice and reparation," he summarized. The pontiff defended a zero-tolerance policy against what he described as a "plague." "The ecclesial community is called to respond with listening, truth, justice, reparation, and an ever more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care," he insisted. In this regard, the Pope also admitted that "hurt people must be able to find sincere listening, warmth, protection, and real paths to healing.

The words of Leo XIV came just before the meeting he held with six abuse victims but which excluded the main associations against pederasty in the Church. Specifically, the pontiff met in Madrid with members of the Priva and Repara programs, promoted by the Church itself. As Vatican sources explained, the Pope met for almost an hour with six victims of abuse by members of the clergy and the Church in Spain. Clergy personnel committed to supporting victims also attended, and, according to the Holy See, all listened to the victims' proposals to make the Church's response to these cases more effective. Leo XIV assured them of his closeness and that of the entire ecclesial community, and his commitment to ensuring that their proposals serve as a basis for the Church to truly be "a safe and spiritually healthy place, where wounds find comfort and healing," they report from the Vatican.

However, several associations of abuse victims have denounced that they have been excluded from these meetings with Leo XIV. "We deserve to be heard," claimed entities such as the Association Infància Robada (ANIR), the Association of Victims of Abuse (AVA), Justice Initiative, Infància Robada Madrid, LulaCris, the Plataforma Afectades Col·lectiu Alborada, the Col·lectiu El Vedat, the Platform of Victims of La Salle, and ANIR Canarias.

These entities recall that they have been collaborating for years with investigations, with the Ombudsman, and with the development of protocols and reparation proposals. "We don't want a photo with the Pope: we want rights and reparation for all victims," they explain in a joint statement, adding: "An institutional greeting has no value if it is not accompanied by real listening and effective responses." In the same document, they point out that public opinion may mistakenly interpret that all victims feel satisfied with the celebration of these meetings, but they recall that "there are diverse sensitivities and numerous groups that have not been taken into account."

In this regard, the president of the Stolen Childhood Association, Juan Cuatrecasas, has indicated in statements to the media that he considers it a "manipulation" by the Episcopal Conference and the coordinator of the Pope's visit to Spain that the pontiff is not meeting with them.

Avoid prescription

In parallel, this Monday, the association Reparació Integral Ja (RIYA) has denounced that the Spanish government has decided to "put on hold" the law to extend the statute of limitations for pedophilia offenses "in exchange for" the official photo of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, with Leo XIV, referring to the meeting they both had this Monday at the nunciature, before the speech in Congress. The organization's spokesperson, Miguel Hurtado, who is the first complainant of abuse at the Montserrat abbey, has urged the Pope to explicitly support the imprescriptibility of pedophilia offenses, even in what he has called "the zero zone of clerical pedophilia in Catalonia," referring to Montserrat. Hurtado has also requested a hearing in the Courts of the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños.

The figure of 440,000 victims in Spain, according to an estimate by the Ombudsman, helps to understand the scope of what the Pope has described as a "plague" this Monday. In fact, the Episcopal Conference acknowledged this year that there are more than a thousand priests and religious investigated. At present, one of the obstacles are the compensations for victims who want to turn the page but also seek justice against the pedophiles and against the enablers of ecclesiastical structures that looked the other way and allowed this oil stain to spread.

Pope Benedict XVI initiated the "zero tolerance" policy against abuse, although the avalanche of cases and the great instability in the institution led him to step down. The one who took on the challenge was Pope Francis, who apologized for the abuses and focused on reparation through the Catalan Jordi Bertomeu, a priest who from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is prosecuting abuses worldwide, as recently in the Sodalicio.