The Spanish bishops agree to compensate all victims of ecclesial pedophilia, even in cases where “the perpetrator has died” or “the crimes have prescribed.” This was recognized this morning by the secretary of the Episcopal Conference and auxiliary archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Javier Magán, who, however, could not specify more about the amounts of compensation or the creation of the fund.
And he could not do it, he said, because the only thing that has been approved (“unanimously”) is “the work process” to develop this comprehensive plan for reparation for the victims. The openness, however, to compensating for cases already prescribed is an important novelty. The plan, added the Episcopal Conference, will have three axes: care, prevention and comprehensive repair, which in turn will have three other areas, “spiritual, social and economic.”
Regarding the amounts for the victims, the secretary of the bishops referred to what the judges decide in the cases that can be tried, implying, but without making it explicit, that those same amounts could be the scales used for the victims. injured parties who cannot go to justice and when “the moral conviction is reached that they are indeed victims.” They will be compensated “out of moral obligation.”
At a previous press conference, following the Ombudsman's report on pedophilia, Francisco García Magán sent a journalist after a pertinent question “to an information office.” His tone this Friday has changed and he even joked with some journalists, to whom he said: “You know more than me.” He also did not want to get into “the controversies about the reliability of certain information.”
The 123rd plenary assembly of the Spanish bishops takes place on the eve of the visit to Rome of all its members, at the request of the Pope. It is a trip with little precedent, in theory against the backdrop of the report that two Uruguayan bishops have made on the situation of the Spanish seminaries. But it will be impossible for the Ombudsman's report and the audit of the Spanish Church itself on abuses not to surface.
The astonishment of the bishops at the Ombudsman's report has been one of the axes of the assembly, which began on Monday and ended this Friday. The president of the bishops, Cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, once again asked for forgiveness in the inaugural session "from all people", especially from victims of abuse and their families", while recalling that they are "hardening and reviewing” all their protocols.
The alleged transparency of the Church has not only been questioned by the victims, who assure that the first thing the law firms that defend the Church ask of them is to sign a confidentiality clause. The Ombudsman himself, Ángel Gabilondo, and his Catalan counterpart, Esther Giménez-Salinas, have insisted on the need for greater clarity and unified procedures on the part of the institution.
“We frankly and bluntly state that we fully understand and appreciate the harm caused. As on other occasions, we want to express unequivocally the shame and sorrow that this reality that betrays the message of the Gospel causes in us,” Cardinal Omella said on Monday. This Friday, the secretary of the Episcopal Conference insisted on a “clear and direct request for forgiveness.”
The assembly of bishops has approved more than ten resolutions, including the establishment of a dialogue table with other confessions, the inspection of budget balances and settlements and the appointment of "two new doctors of the universal Church." But the reparation of the victims focused the interest of the event. This repair, Francisco Javier Magán assured, will be “as soon as possible,” but without specifying when.
Everything is subject to the process that is now being undertaken, but the spokesperson was exhaustive: “It will always be necessary to repair.” He said this when asked if the bishops adhered to the Ombudsman's request for a state compensation fund. The bishops would accept if this fund is for all victims, not just ecclesiastical victims, yes. If, on the other hand, it is only for the ecclesiastics who prefer to follow their own path.
