Recognition in the Gold Category
The president of the Parliament of Catalonia, Josep Rull, announced at the beginning of July that the renowned institution will award the Medal of Honor in the highest category, Gold, to the Monastery of Montserrat. This award is given for the abbey’s notable work in disseminating values such as culture, peace and social justice. Rull also highlighted the importance of Montserrat in the defense of the Catalan language, as well as her support for the collective freedoms of the Catalan people.
Outrage among victims
However, this recognition has met with strong opposition, since it does not have the support of the Government or several victims’ associations. Affected people have expressed their discontent, pointing out that the Montserrat Monastery is known to be the place where at least 14 children suffered sexual abuse, facts that, according to the victims, were covered up by the abbey authorities. Given this situation, those who have suffered this tragedy within the church plan to present a letter to the members of Parliament, seeking to reverse this decision.
Abuses in the Monastery
In the document that will be presented to the Chamber, the victims address the deep crisis of abuse that has arisen in the abbey, considering that Montserrat represents ‘ground zero’ in this problem. Andreu Soler, the head of the scouts, is mentioned, who allegedly abused at least 12 minors over 30 years. Additionally, another Benedictine monk at the abbey, known as Father V.T.M, also confessed to abusing two altar boys in the late 1970s.
Omissions and Cover-ups
In their letter, the authors denounce that, in the aforementioned incidents, Montserrat’s senior management chose to hide and silence the facts with the intention of preventing a scandal that could affect its reputation. When the scandal broke out, with complaints such as that of Miguel Hurtado, a transparency commission was formed, which critics point out was made up of people handpicked by the monastery. Despite pressure from the victims to carry out an independent investigation, it seems that the commission limited itself to defining responsibilities, blaming a deceased person, while the abbot at the time, Josep María Soler, apologized although he acknowledged flaws in the processes. supervision.
Call to Action
The content of the letter emphasizes that an institution that admits the existence of a sexual predator among its members has an unavoidable moral duty to repair the damage caused to the victims. Instead, what seems to have happened was quite the opposite. Hurtado has decided to turn to civil jurisdiction to request compensation, but the abbey has imposed obstacles on him, arguing that the alleged abuses have expired. The letter ends with a strong call to the Parliament to reconsider its decision and not continue to ‘put salt in the wounds’ of those affected, suggesting that they should ‘get on the right side of history’ and revoke the gold medal from the Monastery of Montserrat. .
