The agreement, also signed by the Spanish Episcopal Conference, establishes an unprecedented model in Spain: the evaluation of each case will fall to the Ombudsman, while it will be the Church that assumes the payment of the indemnities that are determined. The system expressly rules out pre-established economic ranges and opts for an “integral” reparation based on criteria such as the severity of the harm or the reiteration of the abuses.
From institutional silence to official investigation
The path towards this protocol begins with years of social and media pressure that led to the opening of an institutional investigation. In 2022, Congress commissioned the Ombudsman an independent report on abuses within the Church, giving for the first time an official channel to a problem until then addressed in a fragmentary way.
That work crystallized in October 2023 in a report that recognized the magnitude of the problem and proposed, among other measures, the creation of a compensation system for victims, including those whose cases could no longer be judicially prosecuted due to statute of limitations.
The shift of the Church: the PRIVA program
In parallel, the Church articulated its own response. In July 2024, the Spanish Episcopal Conference approved the Comprehensive Reparation Program for Victims of Abuse (PRIVA), with which it sought to assist victims through psychological support, accompaniment and, where appropriate, compensation.
This program opted for an extrajudicial and case-by-case approach, moving away from the idea of a common state fund or standardized compensations.
Negotiation and points of friction
For more than a year, Government, Church, and Ombudsman maintained contacts to try to articulate a joint model. The main discrepancies revolved around three key issues: the existence or not of economic scales, the role of the State in financing, and the treatment of prescribed cases.
Finally, the agreement signed this March 30, 2026 opts for a model without criteria and with a clear delimitation of functions: public evaluation and payment by the Church.
A system without benchmarks and with individual evaluation
The protocol rules out setting minimum or maximum amounts for compensation. Instead, each case will be analyzed individually by experts from the Ombudsman's Office, taking into account factors such as the seriousness of the events or their repetition.
The institution will also be responsible for making the final decision on the compensation, which must be paid by the Church.
Review of already processed cases
The agreement also opens the door to review situations already evaluated within the framework of the PRIVA program.
The victims who resorted to this mechanism will be able to request from the Ombudsman a new assessment of their case, with the possibility that the compensation be expanded or complemented.
April 15: start of the process
The protocol sets April 15, 2026, as the start date for the submission of applications by victims. From that moment, a system will be launched that seeks to respond, for the first time in a coordinated manner in Spain, to a historic demand for reparation.
An unprecedented model in Spain
The agreement represents a turning point by establishing an institutionalized mechanism that recognizes victims of abuse in the ecclesial sphere, including those whose cases have prescribed. It does so, moreover, through a model that combines public oversight and private compensation, and that prioritizes integral reparation over the setting of standard amounts.
With this, a new phase opens in the management of one of the biggest reputational and social crises of the Church in Spain, with the focus now on the effective application of the system and on its capacity to respond to the victims.
what type of compensation victims will receive
The protocol agreed between the Government, the Church and the Ombudsman does not guarantee automatic economic compensation in all cases, but rather opts for an integral reparation adapted to each victim.
This means that, although there may be economic compensations —which the Ombudsman will determine based on the severity of the damage or the reiteration of the abuses and which the Church will pay—, the system also contemplates other forms of reparation.
Among them are psychological care, specialized accompaniment and the institutional recognition of the damage suffered, elements already present in the PRIVA program promoted by the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
Furthermore, victims who have already gone through this system may request a review of their case, with the possibility that the reparation may be expanded, complemented, or modified.
In this context, the agreement moves away from an automatic model based solely on payments and reinforces a broader approach: not all reparation will be economic, but all cases must receive a response.