The Archbishop of Oviedo, Monsignor Jesús Sanz Montes, has published in ABC an article in which he harshly criticizes what he considers an ideological and political use of abuses against minors, both within and outside the Church, and denounces the lack of a real consensus to address this drama with truth, justice, and reparation.
In his text, titled The Dis-Agreement on Child Abuses, the prelate argues that the public debate on this issue has become a “weapon of mass distraction,” used to generate confrontation and hide other political and social responsibilities. In his view, interested controversies are resorted to that prevent a serene and complete analysis of the problem.
Criticism of the Government-Episcopal Conference Agreement
Sanz Montes refers explicitly to the agreement reached between the Government and the Spanish Episcopal Conference for the care of victims of abuses, a pact that, as he recalls, was not supported by the Ombudsman. The archbishop points out that said agreement deliberately excludes other areas where abuses have also occurred, focusing almost exclusively on the Catholic Church.
In this sense, he emphasizes that the majority of the cases collected in the Ombudsman’s report did not occur in the ecclesiastical sphere, but in family, educational, sports, or institutional environments, which in his opinion reveals a biased view of the problem.
The Responsibility of the Church and Society
The archbishop unequivocally recognizes the gravity of the abuses committed within the Church and the need to address them with moral responsibility, accompaniment to the victims, and commitment to the truth. However, he warns that reducing the problem to an exclusively ecclesiastical issue constitutes a serious distortion of reality.
Sanz Montes reminds us that pedophilia is not only a crime, but also a sin that destroys the person and corrupts society, and he denounces that contemporary culture, by banalizing sexuality and relativizing the truth, contributes to creating a breeding ground conducive to these crimes.
A Denunciation of the Ideological Use of Pain
Finally, the archbishop regrets that the suffering of the victims is used as a tool for political or ideological confrontation. In his opinion, this instrumentalization not only does not help heal the wounds, but also prevents a truly just and effective response.
For Sanz Montes, the fight against abuses requires a comprehensive commitment from the entire society, without interested exclusions or partial readings, and a clear defense of the truth against manipulation and opportunism.