The cardinal archbishop of Barcelona and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), Juan José Omella, has avoided appearing this Friday in Parliament, as a witness, after the second request from the commission of inquiry into pedophilia, so The parliamentary body has agreed to raise the non-appearance to the Board, so that it can begin the procedures to take the matter to the Prosecutor’s Office, as established by the Chamber’s regulations. The Board must make a decision on this matter at a future meeting.
Omella had initially been summoned, along with the vice-secretary of the Tarragona Episcopal Conference, Enric Termes, and the president of the Ecclesiastical Court of Barcelona, ??Santiago Bueno, all of them as witnesses, last Monday, January 29, to appear in this commission , created in April 2022, and through which victims of abuse, experts in victim care and support, jurists and journalists specialized in the matter have passed since the sessions began last spring.
The three were warned in the appearance requirements, the Parliament reports, of their rights and the criminal responsibilities that they could incur, as stated in the Chamber’s regulations, which also provides that non-appearances be notified to the Prosecutor’s Office so that they can deal with them. the criminal liability that may apply.
However, the archbishop of Barcelona already warned in a letter sent last Thursday to the president of the Parliament, Anna Erra, that he would not appear, given that this had been decided “unanimously and expressly” by the bishops of the Tarragona Episcopal Conference. For this reason, the commission summoned him again, as indicated in the Parliament’s regulations, for this Friday.
At the beginning of the session this Friday, the president of the commission, Susana Segovia, of the En Comú Podem parliamentary group, confirmed that, for the second time, Omella, Termes and Bueno had not appeared, so she announced that the proceedings would begin. procedures to transfer these absences to the Parliamentary Board.
It is the protocol established by the Chamber’s regulations, in article 68.3, in section f of which it details: “If the summoned person voluntarily disregards the requirement to appear before a commission of inquiry, the Parliament Board must account for it.” to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, for the purposes of substantiating any criminal liability that may apply. In the initial notification, you must be warned of this possible criminal liability.”
Segovia has regretted that Omella, Termes and Bueno have not attended the commission to offer their point of view, has said that “the summons was not of presumed guilt” and has maintained that the fact that the Church has opened processes to investigate alleged abuse is not a justification for not appearing.
The commission of inquiry into pedophilia was established in 2022 to investigate cases of pedophilia in the Church, but it was expanded to include environments such as family, sports, school and leisure.
