No fixed compensation for victims of pedophilia: this is the agreement between the Church and the State

MadridThe Spanish government, the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), and the Conference of Spanish Religious have signed this Monday, at the headquarters of the Ombudsman, the protocol to compensate victims of sexual abuse and pedophilia. This is the system to recognize and repair individuals for whom the judicial route is no longer possible and which had been pending detailing since early January, when a more generic agreement was reached to implement it. Finally, no indicative compensation figure has been included in the text. "We wanted to exclude any reference to scales and economic amounts. All entities agreed on this," assured Luis Argüello, president of the CEE at a press conference after the signing, emphasizing that it is an issue that goes beyond money. According to the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, it is positive for the victims that there is no "minimum and maximum threshold" because it implies that compensation is not limited. "It is good news that it is studied on a case-by-case basis," he added.

Applications can be submitted from April 15 and the Ombudsman will have the final say on the resolution of proceedings, should there be no agreement between the parties. With the culmination of this protocol, the reparation for victims of cases that are judicially time-barred or where the abuser is deceased, ceases to be solely in the hands of the Church, as had been the case until now with the system created by the Episcopal Conference in July 2024, known as PRIVA. "This plan had an original sin, which was that the Church had the final word, and that made many victims lose confidence," remarked Bolaños, who celebrated the launch of a "mixed model" that places the final decision on what the Church should do or pay in the hands of the State. "Comprehensive reparation is guaranteed, which in most cases will certainly be economic," stated the minister.

Victims who have already been recognized through the PRIVA plan will be able to reapply for compensation with the new mechanism, although the previously agreed reparation will be taken into account to avoid "duplication". What criteria will be assessed to set the amounts of economic compensation? "The severity of the abuses suffered, taking into account their nature, the violence exercised, the age of the victim, the duration and the relationship between victim and perpetrator," establishes the protocol, which also plans to evaluate the "damage to dignity, pain, suffering and emotional distress and the physical, psychological, social and family consequences they have caused, including the loss of educational, work or social benefit opportunities". Reparation may also be "symbolic", "restorative" or "spiritual".

Phases of the procedure

Victims wishing to claim compensation have one year to do so from its launch in mid-April, although the parties have left the door open to extend the protocol for another year because they do not know if it can be fully resolved within this time. The Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, has acknowledged that they do not have an estimate of how many cases may be encountered. Victims who decide to opt for the procedure must submit a form to the Ministry of the Presidency and Justice, which will forward it to the Ombudsman's victims unit. "It is not a simple procedure [...] it is a flexible, personalized, professional, and humane procedure," Gabilondo guaranteed, assuring that the team in charge will be "very careful." "We have seen the pain it causes; it is no laughing matter to see sixty-year-old people turned back into children. We will not play with the idea of making them go through this again, but we must listen to them and make an assessment," he said.

The Ombudsman's unit will have three months to make a reparation proposal once the request is received. It will be passed to the PRIVA advisory commission, of the Church, which will have a maximum of two months to evaluate it. Once done, both responses will be communicated to the victim so that, within fifteen days, they can state whether they agree or, conversely, present allegations. If there is no agreement, a new fifteen-day period will open for the Ombudsman to convene a joint commission —formed by nine members appointed by the ministry, the Ombudsman, the Episcopal Conference, and the Conference of Religious, as well as representatives of the victims— to try to reach a consensual agreement within one month. If an agreement is not reached, the Ombudsman will impose their criteria. "I will work to ensure maximum consensus and hope it will not be necessary to discern in the last instance, but if it is necessary, we will exercise our responsibility with all naturalness," Gabilondo stressed.