Spain's Catholic Church to Compensate Sexual Abuse Victims

Fri Jan 09 2026 15:09:25 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A groundbreaking agreement between Spain's Catholic Church and the government will allow victims of sexual abuse to seek compensation through a new agency setup, addressing long-simmering grievances and expanding aid to countless victims.

Spain's Catholic Church has signed a historic deal with the government to compensate victims of sexual abuse by clergy members. The agreement will allow victims to seek reparations even when legal paths have lapsed. Justice Minister Félix Bolaños emphasized the need for accountability and moral repair, acknowledging the harm caused by suppressing abuses in the Church. The new compensation system aims to facilitate victim claims and rehabilitate the Church's standing in society, mirroring similar initiatives seen in other countries. Victim organizations view the arrangement as a crucial step in addressing the Church's failures.

Spain's Roman Catholic Church has reached an agreement with the government to compensate victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

The accord follows complaints that religious leaders had failed to tackle the issue adequately.

It means the government will manage possible compensation in co-ordination with the Church, handling cases where other legal avenues are no longer available because the alleged crime took place too long ago or the individual accused has passed away.

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards are estimated by the government to have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Church figures. The move follows similar redress schemes in other nations where abuse has been uncovered.

A democracy should not allow the existence of victims who have never been compensated [and] whose situation, on the contrary, had been covered up, said Justice Minister Félix Bolaños after signing the agreement.

He added that the agreement sought to pay off an historic, moral debt that we had with victims of abuse within the Church.

The other signatories were Luis Argüello, president of the Episcopal Conference and leader of the Spanish Catholic Church, and Jesús Díaz Sariego, president of Confer, which represents Catholic congregations and religious orders.

Mr. Sariego said the initiative was unprecedented as it tackled crimes that had gone past the statute of limitations.

Argüello, who is archbishop of Valladolid, described the accord as another step forward along the path that for years we have been travelling.

A 2023 study by the Spanish ombudsman's office estimated that 1.1% of the population had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of clergy - amounting to about 440,000 people.

The Church has contested these findings, claiming they misrepresent the situation.

However, both the Socialist-led government and victims' organizations have expressed dissatisfaction with the Church's previous reparation model, which lacked external oversight. Critics accused the Church of a lack of transparency in handling cases.

The new system allows victims to file claims with a government agency aimed at addressing historical abuses, expanding opportunities for reparations especially for those whose cases were previously unaddressable.