Unmasking the Silence: Ombudsman’s Report on Sexual Abuse in the Church
The Ombudsman’s recent report on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church has unveiled the shocking reality of the scant cooperation offered by the Bishopric of Ibiza and Formentera. This report, initiated by the Congress of Deputies a year and a half ago, has brought to light troubling revelations concerning two aggressors on the island, raising fundamental questions about how sexual abuse cases within religious institutions are handled.
Shrouded in Silence
This comprehensive report remains blanketed in silence when it comes to specific data regarding victims, perpetrators, locations, and timelines. The stark fact highlighted in the report is the utter lack of information provided by the Bishopric of Ibiza and Formentera. This absence underscores the limited involvement of this religious institution when dealing with the pressing issue of sexual abuse within the church.
Nevertheless, the report does outline two cases involving aggressors on the island. One of these aggressors is identified as a military chaplain who was expelled from the Army in 1995 after allegations of harassment and abuse involving soldiers in an Ibiza barracks. This incident had been widely reported in various media outlets.
The second aggressor remains unnamed in the report but is identified as a priest, Juan Manuel de Souza, who worked in various churches on the island and served as a teacher of religion in multiple schools. While the report refrains from specifying his name, the alleged actions of this priest are a matter of public record.
Revealing Locations and the Void of Information
The report mentions 18 different locations throughout the Balearic Islands, encompassing foster homes, parishes, schools, residences, and private homes where cases of sexual abuse were reported. Notably, several cases were reported in Mallorca. In Ibiza, specific locations associated with abuse include the parishes of Roser and Sant Pau in Vila, the Can Bonet school in Sant Antoni, and a private home on the island.
The report also dedicates a section to the aggressors and admonishes the Pitiusan diocese for failing to provide any data. This includes details regarding the individuals involved, their positions, or employment, even though much of this information had already been disseminated by the media. In this regard, the Bishopric of Ibiza stands alongside Almería, Menorca, and Oviedo, all criticized for their lack of collaboration.
The issue of victims reveals a similar lack of information from the diocese of Ibiza, making the sections on the number of victims when they arrived in Ibiza, and the decades in which these abuses occurred both list ‘without data.’ Furthermore, the report points out that in the Pitiüses, an office dedicated to collecting cases of abuse has not been established, unlike other regions in Spain that have taken a more systematic approach to addressing the issue.
Sexual Abuse: The Bigger Picture
On a national level, the report paints a disconcerting picture. It reveals that approximately 0.6 percent of the Spanish population over the age of 18, equivalent to roughly 236,000 individuals, has experienced sexual abuse within the Church perpetrated by a priest or religious.
The report also discloses that 487 victims, of whom 87 percent are men, have come forward to report instances of sexual abuse within the Church to the victim care unit established by the Ombudsman.
A Familiar Face in Court
These revelations from the report come at a time when the prosecution is seeking a six-year prison sentence for Juan Manuel de Souza, a priest from Ibiza accused of sexually abusing several minors on the island. The charges in this case are related to two specific instances of alleged abuse.
The first case dates back to 2005 when the accused priest allegedly exploited his position of trust within the Catholic religious community Camino Neocatecumenal to abuse a twelve-year-old child. The second case, which transpired between 2009 and 2010 when the victim was aged 13 to 14, involved a minor with close familial ties to the accused, linked through their shared participation in the ‘Kikos’ religious community.
These two cases represent only a portion of the allegations of sexual abuse against Juan Manuel de Souza, who served in various parishes on the island. After these allegations became public, the Pitiusan diocese suspended his ministry, prompting Souza to return to Galicia independently.
Challenges and a Call for Justice
This in-depth report underscores the ongoing challenges in addressing the issue of sexual abuse within the Church, particularly the lack of transparency and collaboration from religious institutions such as the Bishopric of Ibiza and Formentera. As the cases of aggressors and victims remain shrouded in silence, the pursuit of justice continues, leaving a scar on the trust that has been profoundly betrayed.
