The President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference and Archbishop of Barcelona, ​​Cardinal Juan José Omella, said this Saturday that extrapolated data on sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church “are lies and are intended to mislead.”

In a post on the social network X, the cardinal assured: “We will not tire of asking for forgiveness from the victims and working towards their healing.”

However, extrapolating child abuse figures to the general population, which could number around 400,000 victims, strikes him as a “lie”.

Omella quotes in his message the Catechism of the Catholic Church of 827 and says that “The Church is both holy and always in need of purification… All members of the Church, including her ministers, must recognize themselves as sinners. “The tares of sin are still mixed with the good seed of the gospel until the end of time.”

“The Church,” he added, “unites sinners who have already achieved the salvation of Christ, but are still in the process of sanctification.”

The Archbishop of Barcelona does not fully appreciate the ombudsman’s report on child abuse, which an independent commission worked on for fifteen months and which was presented yesterday, Friday.

The 777-page report, entitled “The Response Required”, collects testimonies from 487 victims and compiles the results of a survey of 8,013 adults, which shows that 11.7% of Spaniards have experienced sexual violence before they turned 18.

Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo presented a report yesterday to Congress President Francine Armengol, the result of an investigation that the chamber commissioned him a year and a half ago.

Gabilondo declined to extrapolate abuse figures that, according to the aforementioned survey, estimated that more than 445,000 people may have been subjected to religious abuse and nearly 236,500 by priests.