The Parliament of Catalonia has launched a commission of inquiry “on pederasty in the Church”. In my opinion, this commission is an illegitimate diversion of power, a parliamentary nonsense and, above all, an injustice.
Although its objective formally includes violence committed in other areas, its name and 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 commission far exceeds the purposes of a parliamentary commission of inquiry, the objective of which (according to the Rules of Parliament) are matters of public interest that are “competencies” 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 clearing responsibilities. And even if Parliament does not have the legal capacity to impose sanctions, its action can have very negative social and legal consequences for those affected, so that this turns it into a court without guarantees, with serious danger to fundamental rights.
In addition, judging the activity of a religious denomination is discriminatory and contrary to the State’s neutrality in matters of religion and may constitute a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of worship.
A parliamentary committee, 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 primarily 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 claim that it is a serious public health problem.
But, above all, it is an unfair commission, because it wants to reinforce a certain media story that falsely presents the Church as an institution where abuse and its cover-up predominate. It is true that the Church, like other institutions, must take responsibility for the abuses committed by its servants, and because it often did not take measures against the abusers to prevent recidivism. But it is also true that the Church not only lives these events with pain, but has initiated an important internal process of reform years ago, in order to prevent, detect, sanction and remove those responsible and make amends to the victims.
The most unfair thing is that this commission hides that the Church has been carrying out for centuries a huge task of promoting children and youth: universities, schools, parish communities, religious congregations, foundations, associations, playgrounds, youth movements, scouting groups , Catholic social entities carry out an educational, aid and promotion activity 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 dynamit it or put it at risk.
