The Company of Jesus, born in Spain with Ignatius of Loyola in the sixteenth century, began to shake the coconut from the strict Omerta about pedophilia in a religious context. In a country where the silence of the Church has always been eloquent on sensitive issues, one Church fully recognizes this phenomenon, and most importantly launches this message: Jesuits are certainly sexually abusing children. They plan to establish a protocol for financial and moral compensation.

“We should not focus on the defense of our institution, but on the recognition of the victims.”

– Antonio Allende, responsible for teaching among the Spanish Jesuits

According to a two-year survey, the Society of Jesus has identified 81 cases of pedophilia conducted by 96 religious people since 1927 – or 1% of its members. A figure considered by Infancia Robada (“Childhood Stealing”), a major association for the protection of victims of juvenile delinquency “It’s far from reality.” for this “Do not lead a witch”, However, the Jesuit firm does not disclose the location or name of the sites involved.

Complaints have been filed before seeking compensation. In 2002, the Society of Jesus awarded him 72 72,000 at Angel Plaza. Or the amount paid by the Mauritius a year ago in favor of the 31 victims in Catalonia. But each time they were isolated cases.

“Put in projector”

This time too, it is unprecedented that a church is committed to shedding light on this type of crime. Antonio Allende is responsible for teaching among the Spanish Jesuits, We no longer have to focus on the defense of our institution, but on the recognition of the victims. In fact, compensation and justice ”.

These words of a new force are the subject of this taboo – and very few in the media – within religious institutions, in a country where they have always had a strong influence. To observe a particular response, the Vatican had to hold a summit on pedophilia in February 2019. The Episcopal Conference (Spanish Church) has been relatively silent on the subject, and has since vowed devotional greetings to no avail, without even creating a nationwide commission to investigate the phenomenon.

In November, when asked about the number of complaints, Luis Argello, a spokesman for the Spanish bishops, said: “Zero, or very few.” It is difficult in this case to establish any digitization. “The results are ridiculous, Juan Ignacio Cortes, author of the book, apologizes Wolves in the skin of a shepherd (“Wolves in Shepherd skin that has not been translated”), is one of the few who inquires into this question. Everything here I know Passing as if nothing had happened. We talked for a long time From 50 100 Victims of sexual exploitation, but we know that this figure is very high. Daily Country After interviewing ten churches in addition to the Episcopal Conference, three of them did not dare to respond. A total of 126 cases are coming out, including figures put forward by the Jesuits!

Bishops playing the dead

“It is disturbing when we inquire or question about religious institutions. We want to see it somewhere else ”, The outraged Miguel Hurtado was president of the Infantry Robada and the first victim in 2002 to file a complaint against the Montserrat monastery in Catalonia. “They stole nine The years of my life after that 2011, when I complained, Javier Pass, a victim of Salamanca, is quoted as saying Country. I had faith in my diocese, but the process of implementation was nothing but drama. ”

With the exception of Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Cartagena and Bilbao, the dead are playing and not responding to complaints. For influential churches or institutions such as Opus Day or the Legion of Christ, they were limited to indicating that they were going to study the question. Internal and internal.

The silence is more and more anchored. For Juan Ignacio Cortes, “Let us not forget that most of the cases of religious pedophilia took place during the Francois era in state institutions. The abusers were religious, but the government was responsible. However, even if we are in a democracy, this ambiguity still works. The Church and the State in Ireland apologized in the 1990s. In Spain, it definitely needs to start there.