Pope Francis has decided to open a canonical process on the former teacher of the Gaztelueta school, convicted by the Bizkaia High Court in 2018 for sexual abuse of a pupil. 

In 2020, the Supreme Court reduced the sentence from eleven to two years' imprisonment because of "insufficient evidence and an evaluative discourse" in the process.

In 2015, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith conducted an investigation, which concluded that the teacher was innocent.

The teacher has asked that interested media be referred to his lawyer, in order to avoid interference by third parties in the open ecclesiastical and civil proceedings, and has provided a contact email (b.larriba@icacs.com). 

We once again express our repulsion towards any type of abuse, and we recall the Prelature Safeguarding Guidelines.

We hope that this new process may help to heal wounds and shed more light on the case.