The Episcopal Conference has assured this Thursday that it has forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office all the complaints or testimonies of abuse of minors of which it has become aware and has guaranteed that its willingness to collaborate with the Justice to clarify all cases is "absolute".
In a statement released around 11:00 p.m., the bishops responded to the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, who has announced in the Senate that he is going to ask religious entities and congregations to send him data on abuses in the absence of response from the Episcopal Conference and the "extremely scant information" received from the dioceses. He addressed them last November and only 29 of the 70 dioceses have responded.
"The Episcopal Conference and the Spanish dioceses maintain a determined relationship of collaboration with the Justice and, specifically, with the Prosecutor's Office, within the limits that the Law itself allows," the bishops say. According to what they point out, they sent the report on the abuses received from the newspaper El País to the Prosecutor's Office "so that it could investigate the facts denounced by this newspaper."
García Ortiz explained that, after receiving this journalistic investigation, he asked the Episcopal Conference to inform him of the cases of which they were aware and that this institution replied that it was not sending new data, "alleging that the victim assistance offices of each diocese had their own legal personality and had no jurisdiction over them".
The Prosecutor's Office then addressed the dioceses to request "information on the complaints or testimonies collected from the victim assistance office."
"In view of the functions included in the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor's Office, this request from the Attorney General is strange," highlights the Episcopal Conference, which adds that, in any case, the dioceses, in line with what was reiterated by the Holy Headquarters on numerous occasions, they communicate complaints to prosecutors "as soon as they become aware of them."
"The complaints or testimonies collected from minors in the offices have already been sent to the Prosecutor's Office in the manner provided by law," the bishops say before reiterating their "absolute" willingness to collaborate in clarifying the facts and making a appeal to all the powers of the State to "work together in favor of all the victims".
The State Attorney General's Office will claim in the coming days that religious entities and congregations send it data on child abuse given the lack of response from the Episcopal Conference and the "extremely scant information" received from the dioceses. He addressed them last November and only 29 of the 70 dioceses have responded, as stated this Thursday by the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, in the Senate Justice Commission. García Ortiz recalled that last year he opened a coordination file to monitor cases not prescribed throughout the national territory.
The Prosecutor's Office addressed each of the seventy dioceses, also reminding them of their legal obligation to inform the Public Ministry of any fact that could constitute a crime against the sexual freedom of a minor. But only 29 have responded and with a "model response", the majority stating that they do not have open cases in canonical processes or referring to what has already been sent to the provincial prosecutor's offices, García Ortiz has denounced.
As he explained, in view of "the very scant information received", a letter will be sent to the religious entities and congregations referred to in the responses of the Episcopal Conference "to gather data on abuses that the prosecution still lacks and about which it has not been informed"
Along with this investigation, he recalled that the Prosecutor's Office participates in the commission of experts created by the Ombudsman to prepare a report on the complaints for these sexual assaults, a framework in which they study how to repair the victims in cases in which the facts have prescribed and the authors have died.
This study, he pointed out, will analyze the international and regional references with the main objective of "providing the victims with a platform for listening, recognition and subsequent reparation for the events suffered".
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