愛污传媒

World

    • Spain's report on Catholic Church sex abuse estimates victims could number in hundreds of thousands

    Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo, right, delivers a report on the country's first independent probe into the abuse of minors within the Catholic Church to President of the Congress Francina Armengol, left, at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. (Jesus Hellin/Europa Press via AP) Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo, right, delivers a report on the country's first independent probe into the abuse of minors within the Catholic Church to President of the Congress Francina Armengol, left, at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. (Jesus Hellin/Europa Press via AP)
    Share
    Madrid -

    Spain's first official probe of sex abuse by clergy members or other people connected to the Catholic Church in the country included a survey that indicated that the number of victims could run into hundreds of thousands.

    The survey was part of a damning report by the office of Spain's ombudsman, or "defensor del pueblo," following an 18-month independent investigation of 487 cases involving alleged victims who spoke with the ombudsman's team.

    Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo criticized the church's response to sex abuse scandals, saying it had often been to minimize if not deny the problem. He presented the nearly 800-page report to the speaker of the Spanish parliament's lower house Friday and then to reporters.

    "This is a necessary report to respond to a situation of suffering and loneliness that for years has remained, in one way or another, covered by an unfair silence," Gabilondo said in a statement,

    He acknowledged that the church had taken steps to address both abuse by priests and efforts to cover up the scandal, but said they were not enough.

    Included in the report were findings from a survey based on 8,000 valid phone and online responses. The poll said 1.13% of the Spanish adults questioned said they were abused as children by either priests or lay members of the church, including teachers at religious schools. Of those, 0.6% identified their abusers as clergy members.

    Given that Spain's adult population stands close to 39 million, that would mean some 440,000 minors could have been sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests, members of a religious order and lay members of the church in recent decades.

    The survey conducted by GAD3, a well-known opinion pollster in Spain, had a margin of sampling error for all respondents of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.

    The ombudsman's investigation represents Spain's first official probe of the child sex abuse problem that has undermined the Catholic Church around the world, and the estimate from the survey is the first time such a high number of possible victims was identified in the country.

    The survey, conducted by GAD3, a well-known opinion pollster in Spain, had a margin of sampling error for all respondents of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.

    Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo did not extrapolate the survey findings into a count of possible victims but said the percentages were in line with similar reports in other European countries.

    An investigative commission in France, which has a population of nearly 68 million compared to Spain's 47.6 million, estimated based on surveys two years ago that some 330,000 minors had been abused by church personnel over 70 years.

    The report calls for a public event to recognize victims, the creation of a state fund to pay compensation and for the Catholic Church to provide a way to help victims in the recovery process and introduce reforms to prevent abuse and compensate victims.

    Spain's parliament voted in March 2022 to open the country's first official investigation by the ombudsman into the extent of sexual abuse committed by priests and church authorities.

    The government was forced to act after Spanish newspaper El Pais published abuse allegations involving more than 1,200 victims, provoking public outrage.

    Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the report as a "milestone" for Spain's democracy.

    "Today we are a little better as a country, " Sanchez said Friday from Brussels. "Because a reality has been made known that everyone has known for many years, but which no one spoke of."

    He said the report and its recommendations would be studied and acted upon.

    Spain's Stolen Childhood abuse survivors' group collaborated with the ombudsman's office on the report. Juan Cuatrecasas, a co-founder of the group, said the final document was " positive" but it remained to be seen how lawmakers respond to the recommendations.

    He said the report covered a time period that between the 1960s up until recent years.

    Miguel Hurtado, who was representing an international group called Ending Clergy Abuse, called the report "disappointing" and inferior in its scope and conclusions to ones produced in Australia or Ireland.

    Hurtado said the only effective model would be a truth commission with coercive investigative powers.

    The Spanish Bishops' Conference is scheduled to meet Monday to consider the ombudsman's report.

    A Madrid-based law firm is conducting a parallel inquiry ordered by the bishops' conference. Its findings are expected to be released later this year.

    Only a handful of countries have had government-initiated or parliamentary inquiries into clergy sex abuse.

    ------

    Aritz Parra in Madrid and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    A major amusement park is part of Ontario's grand vision to turn the Niagara region into Las Vegas north, but Marineland may not fit the bill, the provincial tourism minister says.

    Canada

    • A major amusement park is part of Ontario's grand vision to turn the Niagara region into Las Vegas north, but Marineland may not fit the bill, the provincial tourism minister says.

    • Monday is the first full day of campaigning in the Nova Scotia provincial election.

    • Toronto police say a suspect vehicle involved in a downtown shooting Sunday night that left one person seriously injured crashed into an Etobicoke school and caught fire.

    • British Columbia's election could finally be decided today with the counting of absentee ballots, after recounts and a tally of mail-in votes failed to settle the contest on the weekend.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    Sports

    Autos

    Local Spotlight

    The Westfield & District Recreation Association hosted its first Witches and Warlocks on the Water event Saturday, with costumed paddlers in pointed hats launching from Westfield Beach.

    New Brunswicker Jillea Godin鈥檚 elaborate cosplay pieces attract thousands to her online accounts, as well as requests from celebrities for their own pieces.

    A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

    Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

    He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

    A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

    Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

    A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

    • British Columbia's election could finally be decided today with the counting of absentee ballots, after recounts and a tally of mail-in votes failed to settle the contest on the weekend.

    • More than a week after a man was set to return from his hiking trip in northern B.C., police have released more information in hopes of advancing the missing person鈥檚 case.

    • A minor earthquake shook off the coast of B.C. Monday morning, which registered at a magnitude of 4.1, according to federal officials.

    • New home sales in the Greater Toronto Area remained sluggish last month, but a new report suggests that the market is now primed for buyers following four consecutive interest rate cuts.

    • Toronto police say a suspect vehicle involved in a downtown shooting Sunday night that left one person seriously injured crashed into an Etobicoke school and caught fire.

    • The Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, also known as the Calgary Cancer Centre (CCC), opened to patients on Monday.

    • Canada is on track to be the world's third-largest wheat exporter for the second year in a row as crop production in the prairie provinces continues to increase.

    • OC Transpo is pausing running on the new north-south light rail transit line over the next three days for 鈥渕inor construction activities,鈥 after the Trillium Line pulled into the station to complete the 21-day trial running period.

    • Ottawa implemented the new three-item limit on all households that receive curbside waste pickup on September 30, with the goal of extending the life of the Trail Road Waste Facility until 2024.

    • Ottawa Public Health is urging all residents to roll up their sleeves and get the flu season and updated COVID-19 vaccine this fall.

    • The National Director of Youth Protection, Catherine Lemay, resigned at the request of the minister responsible for social services, Lionel Carmant, after institutional scandals.

    • As synthetic drugs grow stronger, experts warn that overdoses pose an even greater threat, particularly to young people. Dr. Nicholas Chadi, a pediatrician at Sainte-Justine Hospital, is sounding the alarm about the rising dangers of these substances.

    • Leon Draisaitl scored his second goal of the game 18 seconds into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Sunday night.

    • WEATHER

      WEATHER

      Cloudy skies and a chance of some scattered pockets of precipitation in the Edmonton area today.

    • Canada is on track to be the world's third-largest wheat exporter for the second year in a row as crop production in the prairie provinces continues to increase.

    • Monday is the first full day of campaigning in the Nova Scotia provincial election.

    • Glen Savoie has been named interim leader of New Brunswick鈥檚 Progressive Conservatives.

    • A snowfall warning is in effect in the Cape Breton Highlands with 'significant snowfall' in the forecast Monday.

    • A North End home went up in flames early Monday morning.

    • Manitoba RCMP are asking for the public鈥檚 help finding a missing 40-year-old man who was last seen in Selkirk.

    • Candidates across Saskatchewan have made their final pitches to potential voters as the 2024 campaign comes to a close and election day arrives.

    • Election day has arrived in Saskatchewan. With it, the last wave of voters prepare to cast their ballots and decide who will form government in the province.

    • Two of the three recounts in B.C.鈥檚 2024 provincial election have been completed, with no change to the standings in either riding.

    • What role does ideology play in the sentencing of the man who pleaded guilty to four charges in an attack at the University of Waterloo?

    • Police say just before 5 p.m. Friday, the suspects went to an address near Dawson Road and Shelldale Crescent and banged on the door.

    • Police responded to a reported break-in at a home in the area of Natchez Road and Carson Drive around 11:45 p.m. Saturday.

    • Candidates across Saskatchewan have made their final pitches to potential voters as the 2024 campaign comes to a close and election day arrives.

    • Election day has arrived in Saskatchewan. With it, the last wave of voters prepare to cast their ballots and decide who will form government in the province.

    • It's been a long month of policy announcements, campaigning, new promises, and speculation leading up to today. Polls are set to close Monday evening, and the outcome will shape the next four years of Saskatchewan's government.

    • According to police, The Uniformed Division Special Constable Program, will have the special constables, "Working closely with patrol operations to ensure the safety and security of the London community."

    • Victor Garber got teary-eyed when he walked into a brunch in his honour Sunday in London, Ont.

    • Trillium Care in Norwich, Ont. has announced they will be closing their facilities, citing 鈥渁n emergency lack of financial resources necessary to sustain daily operations.鈥

    • Emergency crews battled a house fire in Huntsville that claimed the life of one pet on Monday.

    • Huntsville OPP and the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) are conducting a homicide investigation after three individuals were found dead in a Huntsville neighbourhood Friday evening.

    • Bracebridge OPP are searching for two suspects who allegedly broke into a Gravenhurst jewelry store early Saturday morning.

    • According to AM800 News, the fire broke out at the home next to an apartment building around 3 a.m.

    • Windsor police are telling the public to not be alarmed to see an increased police presence around Windsor Regional Hospital鈥檚 Ouellette Campus on Halloween.

    • One suspect has been arrested after an armed robbery took place in Windsor.

    • British Columbia's election could finally be decided today with the counting of absentee ballots, after recounts and a tally of mail-in votes failed to settle the contest on the weekend.

    • A minor earthquake shook off the coast of B.C. Monday morning, which registered at a magnitude of 4.1, according to federal officials.

    • Two of the three recounts in B.C.鈥檚 2024 provincial election have been completed, with no change to the standings in either riding.

    • More than two years after Alannah Brown and Douglas Barker were found dead north of Penticton, police are asking for help identifying a vehicle they believe was associated with the crime.

    • Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.

    • A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.

    • A tentative agreement has been reached between the City of Lethbridge and more than 900 employees belonging to CUPE Local 70.

    • The Hurricanes will be happy to be back home in Lethbridge Saturday night after losing their third in a row on the road Friday night, a 4-1 decision to the Broncos in Swift Current.

    • About 15,000 students are enrolled at Lethbridge鈥檚 post-secondary schools, and now the city is working with those schools to try to find ways to get them s to stick around a while.

    • Last week, tariffs surrounding Chinese steel and aluminum products went into effect and stakeholders in northern Ontario and abroad say it's good news.

    • A female athlete from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., achieved two big goals at the 2024 World Triathlon championships in Spain last weekend.

    • Creditors have moved to take ownership of most of the properties in northern Ontario owned by a group of 11 insolvent companies.

    N.L.

    Shopping Trends

    The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at 愛污传媒. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop.聽Read about us.

    Stay Connected
    Follow 愛污传媒