The Ombudsman will be able to investigate the abuses when the PSOE has sufficient support

The PNV has presented this Monday a non-law proposal for a group of experts to investigate the sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church, as announced at the end of January. All in all, party sources have indicated to Efe that "a priori" they do not see the PSOE's initiative badly, which is similar to theirs. It differs, yes, in two points: that the jeltzales do not include the Ombudsman in their proposal and that they set a one-year deadline to obtain the conclusions.

The Socialists, for their part, intend to have the report with the results of the investigation ready before the end of the legislature at the end of 2023, but it is "complex work, which will take time and therefore must be thorough", Gómez pointed out at a press conference. The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, has acknowledged in an interview on Cadena SER that there is talk of "years" of investigation.

"It seems good to us that they take the initiative," said this Monday the president of the United We Can parliamentary group, Jaume Asens in an interview on TVE, who on Thursday spoke with the minister of the presidency, Félix Bolaños on the subject. "I told him that for us it is very important that any formula go through a mandate from Congress and he assured me that they would try to make it that way," he explained.

Precisely, United We Can, Bildu and ERC presented a proposal for the creation of an investigation commission in Congress, which has already taken the first steps. EH Bildu sources have welcomed the PSOE initiative and told Efe that they see it as "compatible" with their proposal. A compatibility with which the spokesman for Podemos, Pablo Fernández, has agreed, who has considered that "both ways can be complementary."

However, from the socialist group, whose 120 deputies are essential for the investigative commission to prosper in Congress, they prefer to focus on the Ombudsman route. "We understand that this is the format", insisted Gómez, who has argued that it is the best way to protect the victims and to be able to "shed light" on what happened in the sphere of the Catholic Church. "It's going to be our defense, our position and the momentum is geared towards this initiative," he said.

More Country has also been in favor of this initiative. "It seems good to us. We have spoken this morning with the socialist parliamentary group and we have told them that they have our support," sources from this formation have transferred to Efe, who have added that they hope that the Ombudsman will ultimately attend the Cortes to explain the final report.

For his part, the deputy secretary general of Ciudadanos, Daniel Pérez, has stated that his party is in favor of any investigation into the abuses committed against minors. "Everything that is to find out and investigate such execrable events, Citizens will be there, asking for light and stenographers, but nobody can count on us to stigmatize any group or institution, or to make trench speeches. It affects whoever it affects, child abuse must be investigated," he said.

In the "commission made up of experts" that will protect the Ombudsman, the PSOE intends to include the Spanish Episcopal Conference, so that, as has happened with the Church in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany or France, they can collaborate with the State . In any case, this collaboration is "voluntary", although the socialists understand that "definitely it is going to materialize and consummate".

The president of the Popular Party, Pablo Casado, affirmed this Monday that he is in favor of investigating "any case" of pederasty, "has occurred within the Church or in an autonomous community such as Valencia or the Balearic Islands." Along the same lines, he accused the PSOE of "making policies to cover up cases" of child abuse in the autonomous communities where it governs.