Spain's bishops pledge continued efforts to prevent sex abuse

The Bishops' Conference of Spain said Church leaders will not let their guard down on the issue of sexual abuse by clergy despite its “low incidence” in the country.

Spokesman Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino said the guidelines developed by the Spanish bishops to deal with such cases have been sent to the Vatican for final review.

“Thank God there has been a low incidence of this problem in Spain, but even one case is too many and we must not be complacent. For this reason, the bishops are concerned with prevention through the promotion of spiritual, theological and personal formation.  We are not letting our guard down,” Bishop Martinez Camino said.

The document sent to the Vatican was a “very simple” guide for acting quickly and “with justice” in response to possible cases of abuse and for reaching out to victims, he noted.

Bishop Martinez Camino said the bishops hope their efforts will ensure that these kinds of “reprehensible and absolutely unacceptable” acts that “are so contradictory” to what is expected of priests, will “disappear.”