Overview
- Victims will file through a new Justice Ministry intake that forwards cases to the Ombudsman’s victims unit, with proposals then reviewed by the Church’s PRIVA commission and any unresolved disputes ultimately decided by the Ombudsman.
- The scheme covers abuse cases that lack judicial recourse because they are time‑barred or the alleged abuser has died, with a one‑year filing window that can be extended by another year.
- The Church will fund monetary and other reparative measures and payments will be exempt from income tax, with the bishops’ conference or religious orders assuming obligations if a responsible diocese or entity fails to comply.
- Operational details are to be formalized in a collaboration agreement within about a month, alongside the launch of the ministry intake unit and engagement with victims’ groups.
- Victim associations offered cautious support, citing concerns about the short deadline and the absence of a clear compensation scale, and after a meeting on January 9 the government pledged to push an imprescriptibility law, to study extending the window and setting a scale, and to allow certain families of deceased victims who had previously reported to access the plan.