Panama: 37 complaints of sexual abuse against clergy from 2001 to 2025

There are 37 complaints of sexual abuse against minors and vulnerable people filed against members of the Catholic clergy in Panama between 2001 and 2025. This is what emerges from a report prepared by two Catholic universities at the request of the Church and presented today.

The archbishop of Panama, José Domingo Ulloa, renewed his apologies to the victims, already expressed in 2023, specifying that five priests were reduced to the lay state after being convicted of sexual abuse. The study, conducted by Spain's Villanueva University and the American University of Notre Dame, found no evidence of a deliberate policy by the Church to conceal abuse in the country, but highlighted problems in the handling of complaints.

Maria José Valero, one of the authors, stressed that the number of reported cases does not necessarily reflect the true extent of the abuse, as many victims hesitate to report.