- The commission created by the Diocese of Bilbao for the investigation of sexual abuse inside the church and the protection of minors has interviewed over 50 victims since its launch in 2019. The results of the study have now been published: "There have also been sexual abuse in our church," said the committee director, Carlos Olabarri. ARGIA has published in its latest issue a comprehensive report on the cases of Church pederasty.
The Diocese of Bilbao announced the results of the investigation into sexual abuse on Wednesday in Bilbao and explained that the Commission on Child Protection has opened 32 reports since its launch in 2019, one for each of the abuses. In total they have interviewed 50 victims during this time, but have warned that "it is not easy" to provide an exact number of victims.
The committee director, Carlos Olabarri, and the lawyer, Gemma Escapa, have spoken to the press to clarify the data collected. "There have also been sexual abuse in our church," Olabarri said. Any number of victims is excessive and any abuse, even mild, is unsustainable and unacceptable.”
Fourteen cases correspond to the priests of the Diocese of Bilbao, all dead
Several victims have explained that they have asked for their privacy, others have asked the Church to assume responsibility and "apologize". However, Olabarri points out that each case is "unique and special".
Fourteen dead priests and all prescribed cases
Eighteen of the 32 reports correspond to religious orders and fourteen to diocesan abbeys in Bilbao, all of them dead. They also report that all cases are prescribed.
In any case, the Diocese has not given the name of the aggressors, nor has it said when and how the abuses occurred.
Casa Misercordi de Bilbao and Derio Seminar
In two cases the Diocese has produced specialized reports, "having jumped into the media," they explain. One of them is the Casa Misercordi in Bilbao, the work of UPV researchers Jone Valdueza and Gema Varona, who from 1961 to 1978 have talked about the sexual abuse suffered in this place and have explained that in many cases "the victims do not say anything about what happened".
The Shrine of Urkiola hosted a portrait of pederasta priest Manuel Estomba, until years ago one of the victims asked for his withdrawal
The other case is the Derio Seminar. ARGIA revealed in 2019 the sexual abuse that occurred through a testimony. The University of Deusto has conducted a study, and in the report of conclusions (pdf) notes that in this seminar there were three abuses in the 1950s and 1960s, but in these cases it is not named either.
As this medium of communication explains, one of them was Manuel Estomba, spiritual director of the small seminar, who abused the students on the pretext of "genital hygiene". Stomba was a missionary to Ecuador and upon returning he was at the Shrine of Urkiola.
According to the report of the University of Deusto, Estomba received no penalty for his performance. A park in Irun continues with the name of the abuser, and the report clarifies that in the shrine of Urkiola his portrait was seen until a few years ago one of the victims requested his withdrawal.