Spain's government, the Episcopal Conference, and Confer will sign a protocol on Monday to compensate victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church when judicial recourse is unavailable. The agreement, overseen by the Defender of the People, will be signed at 11:00 a.m. at its headquarters by Félix Bolaños, Luis Argüello, Jesús Díaz Sariego, and Ángel Gabilondo. This mechanism complements the Church's Priva plan, with costs borne by the Church.
On Monday, March 30, at 11:00 a.m., at the Defender of the People's headquarters, the protocol agreed in January between the government, the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), and the Spanish Conference of Religious (Confer) will be signed. It will be executed by the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños; CEE president Luis Argüello; Confer president Jesús Díaz Sariego; and Defender of the People Ángel Gabilondo.
This system provides economic, symbolic, restorative, or spiritual reparation to victims whose cases are time-barred or lack judicial recourse, complementing the Church's Priva plan launched in 2024. Victims start the process at a Ministry of Justice unit, which forwards it to the Defender of the People for a proposal. This is reviewed by the Priva advisory commission; if no agreement, a Mixed Commission with victim associations intervenes, with the Defender issuing the final resolution.
The January pact set state oversight, with the Church covering costs and accepting the Defender's final say despite appeal rights. The CEE noted on March 19 that "some loose ends" remained, following disputes over amounts and reviews of prior Priva compensations, deemed by associations as "ridiculous and humiliating".
The Defender of the People reported over 200,000 Spanish adults suffered abuse by priests or religious. This step follows the initial January 8 agreement and the Defender's report commissioned by Congress in 2022.
