Spain's Roman Catholic Church has reached an agreement with the government to compensate victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.
The accord follows complaints that religious leaders had failed to tackle the issue adequately.
It means the government will manage possible compensation in co-ordination with the Church, handling cases where other legal avenues are no longer available because the alleged crime took place too long ago or the individual accused has passed away.
Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards are estimated by the government to have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Church figures. The move follows similar redress schemes in other nations where abuse has been uncovered.
A democracy should not allow the existence of victims who have never been compensated [and] whose situation, on the contrary, had been covered up, said Justice Minister Félix Bolaños after signing the agreement.
He added that the agreement sought to pay off an historic, moral debt that we had with victims of abuse within the Church.
The other signatories were Luis Argüello, president of the Episcopal Conference and leader of the Spanish Catholic Church, and Jesús Díaz Sariego, president of Confer, which represents Catholic congregations and religious orders.
Mr Sariego said the initiative was unprecedented as it tackled crimes that had gone past the statute of limitations.
Argüello, who is archbishop of Valladolid, described the accord as another step forward along the path that for years we have been travelling.
A 2023 study by the Spanish ombudsman's office estimated that 1.1% of the population had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of members of the clergy or individuals linked to the Church, the equivalent of 440,000 people.
The Church contested these findings and set up a reparation scheme that year to manage abuse claims. However, both the Socialist-led government and victims' organizations expressed dissatisfaction with the scheme.
In November, the Church reported that 58 cases had been resolved under its original framework. Still, critics pointed to issues of transparency and delays in the process.
A new system established under the agreement allows victims to file cases with a new agency created by the justice ministry, which will coordinate with the ombudsman's office for compensation proposals.
The amount of financial compensation is not detailed, but could follow models from other European nations, where victims have received varying amounts for their suffering.
This agreement marks a significant precedent in Spain, signaling a potential change in how the Catholic Church addresses historical sexual abuse and its consequences.
