Letter sent today to the Ministry of Justice...
Spain Bethel sent a letter recently last Oct 3 interpreting that no elder or SM should request a Certificate of Sexual Offenses as other churches or persons in contact with kids. Again JW.org interprets the law to their behalf.
A group of Elders in Madrid has sent this letter to ask clarification !!
Translation here below...
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Ministry of Justice
Office for Relation with Confessions.
Madrid.
I contact with you as an elder and spokesman for a group of elders (or local pastors) of Jehovah's Witnesses. I practice from my childhood this religion and it gives me a Christian vision for my daily life.
The official entity in Spain, Christian Witnesses of Jehovah sends (via email, via the jw.org website, with maximum security protocols), instructions on the so-called judicial committees, protocols to handle cases of sexual abuse of children within local congregations and clear instructions on how we keep all information about these alleged crimes, instructions for members who have suffered harassment and how to report (in a peculiar way, trying not to leave traces or traceability) always at the national Spain headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses, in his office in Ajalvir.
On Oct 3rd, the headquarters in Spain sent the letter attached, clarifying that we should not apply for
Certificate of Sexual Offences
even if we have worship activities with children (meetings, teaching schools).
I am a spokesman for a group of elders from Madrid, we are very anxious for the publicity given on the thousand cases of sexual abuse in Australia (we always talk about our worship), and the research in the UK together with the information we are reading in different newspapers.
We have found that the national headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses moved instructions in a particular language, but the final instructions are given to us in a particular school for Elders, and finally all legal responsibility finally seems only to be ours.
We know that the world headquarters has secret files with tens of thousands cases of child sexual abuse never reported.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/2119903.stm
As a minister of religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, dealing with childrens, should I apply for the certificate? What responsibility is ours on the unsigned letter (common in the instructions given to us via the jw.org ntranet, where all have an email account) issued by the Jehovah's Witnesses in Spain confession.
Faced with such a complex situation, soon will deposit in the register of the Ministry of Justice a copy of all instructions received during the past five years, also copies of digital media with all instructions. We will send this letter as well to Commissions of Justice and Home Affairs both in the Senate, and Congress of Deputies, and all documentation to members of the European Parliament.
Best regards.
Group of Elders of Jehovah's Witnesses in Madrid (Spain)
