- Title: SPAIN: Call for child abuse victims to come forward as Pope visits
- Date: 7th November 2010
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (NOVEMBER 06, 2010) (REUTERS) FRONT OF SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH IN MADRID BANNER READING "I'M THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE" CHURCH WITH BANNER READING: "SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH" CLOSE UP OF BANNER READING: "SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH" MADRID, SPAIN (NOVEMBER 05, 2010) (REUTERS) "IGLESIA SIN ABUSOS" SPOKESMAN CARLOS SANCHEZ MATO TALKING WITH REUTERS PRODUCER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) "IGLESIA SIN ABUSOS" SPOKESMAN CARLOS SANCHEZ MATO, SAYING: "The victim feels guilty about what has happened. And society sometimes contributes to that guilty feeling. The victims did not actively follow through with legal action what they told us about in the beginning but we thought that, as citizens, we had to force the legal authorities to investigate and judge whether the priest was guilty." MADRID, SPAIN (NOVEMBER 06, 2010) (REUTERS) MAN WAITING TO GET INTO SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH BANNERS AT THE ENTRANCE OF SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH CLOSE UP OF PICTURE OF POPE BENEDICT XVI AT THE ENTRANCE OF SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH MADRID, SPAIN (NOVEMBER 05, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) "IGLESIA SIN ABUSOS" SPOKESMAN CARLOS SANCHEZ MATO, SAYING: "It is clear that the actions taken by Spanish Catholic Church have not even reached the point of saying "sorry", as Benedict XVI has. There is a rigid defence position, arguing that every reported case is attacking the clerical institution, but actually it doesn´t. Unless the clerical institution defends pederasty." IGLESIA SIN ABUSOS" SPOKESMAN CARLOS SANCHEZ MATO TALKING WITH REUTERS PRODUCER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) "IGLESIA SIN ABUSOS" SPOKESMAN CARLOS SANCHEZ MATO, SAYING: "We ask the victims to embrace their situation (Spanish: assume their victim position). One way of getting over it is fighting for their own rights. They have to report (the abuses). The only clear solution (Spanish: way of solving) -- not only every particular case, but avoiding others from going through the same in the future -- is to create a social consciousness which drives towards the reporting of cases legally, and not only this, but in making people aware of the reality. " CLOSE UP OF SANCHEZ MATO'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) "IGLESIA SIN ABUSOS" SPOKESMAN CARLOS SANCHEZ MATO, SAYING: "He was the one who got the cases and the reports. And that institution didn´t do anything, or at least not enough, to be transparent before society, or it just didn´t take enough measures. So it is very complicated to make direct, indirect victims and society confident when the push for change is being directed by the one who was in charge of the institution which hid cases." MADRID, SPAIN (NOVEMBER 06, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH IN MADRID CLOSE UP OF BANNER READING: "SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH" CLOSE UP OF CROSS OUTSIDE SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Spain
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Religion
- Reuters ID: LVA3ZBGSC97B0JSKZZDDG19U3KT2
- Story Text: A Spanish anti-child abuse organisation appealed for church abuse victims on Friday (November 05) to make their cases public as Pope Benedict XVI visited the cities of Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona.
Iglesia Sin Abusos, (Church Without Abuse,) a secular organisation which defends children´s rights since 2002, was founded by a group of catechists after discovering that the children in their community in Madrid had been abused by their local priest.
Twelve children between eight and eleven years old were abused, according to the association, but only one of the victims went through the reporting process -- helped by the founding members of Iglesia Sin Abusos -- and the priest was convicted.
Carlos Sanchez Mato, a catechist at the Santo Domingo de Guzman church in Madrid, where the alleged abuse took place, took up the cause of one child and reported the case.
Speaking on Saturday (Nov. 5) before the visit of the Pope, Sanchez Mato reflected his actions eight years ago, "The victim feels guilty about what has happened. And society sometimes contributes to that guilty feeling. The victims did not actively follow through with legal action what they told us about in the beginning but we thought that, as citizens, we had to force the legal authorities to investigate and judge whether the priest was guilty. "
Although the number of practicing Catholics in Spain is waning, the Catholic Church remains influential in society.
The first child abuse charge was made public in May 2010, leaving a monk suspended.
According to Iglesia Sin Abusos , such cases have been and could still be covered up, as reporting to the legal authorities is seen as an attack on the priesthood.
As Sanchez Mato put it, "It is clear that the actions taken by Spanish Catholic Church have not even reached the point of saying "sorry", as Benedict XVI has. There is a rigid defence position, arguing that every reported case is attacking the clerical institution, but actually it doesn´t. Unless the clerical institution defends pederasty."
Reflecting on Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the pilgrimage centre Santiago de Compostela on Saturday (November 06) and coastal Barcelona on Sunday (November 07), Sanchez Mato asked victims to not be afraid to come forward, but he understood why they may not want to.
"He was the one who got the cases and the reports. And that institution didn´t do anything, or at least not enough, to be transparent before society, or it just didn´t take enough measures. So it is very complicated to make direct, indirect victims and society confident when the push for change is being directed by the one who was in charge of the institution which hid cases."
he said.
Since his election in 2005, the Pontiff has apologized for sexual abuse by priests and has met victims in the United States and Australia.
He retired the head of an influential order of priests because of allegations -- long rumored but overlooked under John Paul II -- that the head had sexually abused seminarians.
Benedict's supporters see him in the Vatican vanguard in tackling the problem and say he has reason to feel that continuing on this slow but steady path is the best option. - Copyright Holder: GAUMONT GRAPHIC NEWSREEL (REUTERS)
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