Over 200,000 minors may have been sexually abused in Spain by the Roman Catholic clergy since 1940, according to an estimate by an independent commission published Friday.
The report did not give a specific figure but said a poll of over 8,000 people found that 0.6 percent of Spain's adult population of around 39 million people said they had suffered sexual abuse by members of the clergy when they were still children, according to an AFP report by FRANCE24.
The percentage rises to 1.13 percent -- or over 400,000 people -- when including abuse by lay members, Spain's national ombudsman Angel Gabilondo told a news conference called to present the findings of the report.
The revelations in Spain are the latest to rock the Roman Catholic Church after a series of sexual abuse scandals around the world, often involving children, over the past 20 years.
But unlike in other nations, in Spain -- a traditionally Catholic country that has become highly secular -- clerical abuse allegations are only now gaining traction, leading to accusations by survivors of stonewalling.
"Unfortunately, for many years there has been a certain desire to deny abuses or a desire to conceal or protect the abusers," said Gabilondo, a former education minister.
The report is critical of the attitude of the Catholic Church, calling its response to cases of child abuse involving the clergy "insufficient". It recommended the creation of a state fund to pay reparations to victims.
In June, Reuters also reported how the Spanish Catholic Church looking into child sexual abuse by members of the clergy and non-clerical staff had so far identified 728 alleged abusers and 927 victims since the 1940s, according to its first report.
"We acknowledge the harm caused," said Jose Gabriel Vera, the spokesman for the Spanish Bishops' Conference. "We want to help all victims...to accompany them in their healing."
The issue came under a spotlight in Spain in 2021 after El Pais newspaper reported more than 1,200 alleged cases, years after sexual abuse scandals had rocked the Church in countries such as the U.S., Ireland and France.
Several inquiries have been launched, including one led by the country's ombudsman, and the Church's own internal investigation.
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