The Parliament of Catalonia has set up an investigation Commission “on pedophilia in the Church”. In my opinion, this commission is an illegitimate misuse of power, a parliamentary nonsense and, above all, an injustice.
Although violence committed in other spheres is formally included in its objective, its name and its main objective are the Church and the witnesses and experts summoned focus mainly on the Church. And it is that its true purpose, or at least that of its promoters, is not to investigate certain facts, but the public ridicule of the Church, to scold it, publicly discredit it and, if possible, condition its freedom of action.
From a legal point of view, this committee far exceeds the purposes of a parliamentary committee of inquiry, the objective of which (according to the Parliamentary Regulations) are matters of public interest that are the “competence” of the Generalitat, linked to the function of the Parliament to legislate and to control and promote the action of the Government. This gives it the power to investigate the activity of public bodies and their managers, but not that of citizens or social groups with the intention of debugging responsibilities. And although the Parliament does not have the legal capacity to impose sanctions, its actions can have very negative social and legal consequences for those affected, in such a way that this makes it a court without guarantees, seriously endangering fundamental rights.
In addition, judging the activity of a religious denomination is discriminatory and contrary to the neutrality of the State in matters of religion and may entail a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of worship.
In any case, it is nonsense to pretend that this commission can draw useful conclusions. A parliamentary commission, made up of political groups that publicly confront each other in favor of conflicting projects and interests, cannot deal impartially and constructively with a social phenomenon of such magnitude and complexity.
In addition, by focusing mainly on the Church, the reality of the problem is blurred and, therefore, prevents it from being adequately addressed. Unfortunately, sexual abuse of children is a terrible reality that takes place in all social spheres, mainly in the family, to the point that some experts affirm that it is a serious public health problem.
But, above all, it is an unfair commission, because it wants to reinforce a certain media narrative that falsely presents the Church as an institution where abuse and its cover-up predominate. It is true that the Church, as well as other institutions, has to take responsibility for the abuses committed by its servants, and for often failing to take action on the abusers to prevent recidivism. But it is also true that the Church not only experiences these events with pain, but has begun an important internal reform process years ago, in order to prevent, detect, punish and remove those responsible and repair the victims.
The most unfair thing is that this commission hides the fact that the Church has been carrying out for centuries an enormous task of promoting children and youth: universities, schools, parish communities, religious congregations, foundations, associations, recreational centers, youth movements, escort groups, Catholic social entities carry out educational, aid and promotional activities for hundreds of thousands of children and young people, including the most vulnerable. It is difficult to imagine what Catalonia would be today without this contribution. This deserves the respect, recognition and collaboration of public authorities and society as a whole, and no one who believes in the common good has the right to blow it up or put it at risk.
