Lleida is among the Catalan places named in a major El País investigation into alleged clerical abuse cover-ups across Spain. The report says two archbishops and three bishops with connections to Lleida are among 94 senior church figures identified in the newspaper’s review of 1,622 abuse cases.
The investigation, which El País says began in 2018, describes a “wall of silence” from the Church when it asked for information about reported abuse cases. It says the 94 officials include seven cardinals, 61 bishops and 26 superiors of religious orders.
Among the cases cited is that of José María García Lahiguera, then Archbishop of Valencia, who is said to have protected Father José Prat. Prat was accused of raping and murdering a nine-year-old boy in Port de Sagunt in 1971, was sentenced to 17 years in prison, and later served as a vicar in the La Bordeta neighbourhood of Lleida, according to Segre. The report says Ramón Malla, Bishop of Lleida, and Miguel Roca, Archbishop of Valencia, were involved in the cover-up.
The article also names Joan-Enric Vives, Archbishop of Urgell until June 2025, and Jaume Traserra Cunillera, Bishop of Solsona from 2001 to 2010. El País says both are linked, through writer Pepe Rodríguez’s account, to the alleged cover-up of the Casa de Santiago and Nous Camins scandal in Barcelona, where sexual abuse was reported.
Another figure named is Jaume Pujol Balcells, Archbishop of Tarragona from 2004 to 2019, who was born in Guissona in 1944. The report says he allegedly covered up for a priest accused in 2011 of abusing three girls at a school in Cabra de Camp, and that the priest was later moved to Poblet monastery before returning to serve in Arbeca and other municipalities in Lleida, where he taught catechism.
The investigation also names Vicente Enrique y Tarancón, Bishop of Solsona from 1945 to 1964 and Archbishop of Madrid from 1971 to 1983, in relation to the case of Cesáreo Gabaráin, a priest accused of abusing students at a Marist school in Madrid. It also says Jaume Pallarolas was transferred to a school in Balaguer after being accused of allegedly abusing three girls in Alella in 2008. More Catalonia news
