Pope Leo XIV. met six victims of sexual abuse by clergy in Spain in Madrid on Monday and promised to consider their suggestions on how the Catholic Church can improve its approach to the crisis, said the Vatican quoted by the AP agency.
The meeting, which continued the tradition of popes meeting abuse victims during foreign trips, it lasted about an hour and took place on the grounds of the nunciature in Madrid, added the Vatican in a statement, writes TASR.
Ahead of the expected meeting, several abuse victims’ groups said they had not been informed of the meeting and staged a protest outside the Holy See’s embassy in Madrid. “On behalf of our associations, we are happy that the Pope will listen to some of the victims, but they do not represent all the victims,” said Juan Cuatrecasas of the Robbed Childhood association. According to him, the church in this way “he’s cleaning up his image”.
On Monday, Lev called on Spain’s Catholic hierarchy to provide compensation to victims of sexual abuse by clergy and to deal with the crisis transparently. “In the face of this scourge, the church community is called to respond with listening, truth, justice and compensation” victims, the Pope declared, adding that “every wounded person must find honest listening, acceptance, protection and real help on the road to recovery.”
For years, Spain’s church hierarchy rather downplayed the extent of sexual abuse, until journalists began documenting a series of these cases and their cover-up. In response to the public outcry that followed the revelations, Spain this year introduced a compensation system for cases of clerical abuse that can no longer be prosecuted. Both the Catholic Church and the Spanish government are supposed to participate in the system.
Unlike other countries, the state has a strong role in the Spanish model and it also has the final say in the payment of compensation. The system is not legally binding, prompting mixed reactions among activists and victims alike.
