Three of Spain’s left-leaning political parties have announced they want to create a commission of inquiry into sex abuse allegations in the country’s Catholic Church, following an investigation by the newspaper El País and similar inquiries launched in other European countries such as France and Germany.
On Wednesday, left-wing political parties Podemos, ERC (The Republican Left of Catalonia), and EH Bildu (Euskal Herria Bildu) introduced a proposal for the creation of a commission of inquiry into pedophilia and sexual misconduct in the Spanish Catholic Church.
The proposal follows investigative journalism by Spanish newspaper El País since 2018, including new accusations published this week.
It is the first time in Spain that a national institution is taking this initiative.
Other European countries such as France and Germany have recently launched large-scale inquiries into sexual misconduct by members of the Catholic clergy, and lack of consideration of the victims by the Church.
On Monday, the former pope Benedict XVI has admitted to providing false information to a German inquiry into clerical sexual abuse in the 1980s.
Watch the full interview in the video player, above.
