The Spanish Catholic Church has approved a plan to make reparations to victims of sexual abuse in its midst, an initiative it hopes will be operational in a few months but which is opposed by the government, which considers it unilateral and insufficient.
The announcement comes in the face of growing pressure from the government of socialist Pedro Sánchez, who is pressuring the Catholic Church, criticised by victims for its opacity and lack of progress towards compensation, to compensate those affected.
“We have approved the general lines of this so-called comprehensive reparation plan for victims of abuse,” the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), Luis Argüello, announced at a press conference.
The bishops set up a committee to evaluate each case and decide on the specific level of compensation, which will begin to operate “as soon as possible, if possible from September”, Argüello said.
“It is a significant day”, because in the Church “we have opened a door” to “integral reparation” for the victims, Argüello said.
But the government, which in April proposed the creation of a state fund to compensate victims paid for by the Church, opposes the EEC’s initiative.
“The government will not accept under any circumstances a unilateral system such as the one proposed by the church,” the justice ministry said Monday in a statement issued after minister Felix Bolaños received victims’ associations.
“The Church’s plan does not include the presence of the victims, it is not obligatory for the dioceses and its resolutions are not binding, so reparation is not guaranteed at any time,” the text added.