The archbishop of Panama, José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, stated that “we cannot remain silent in the face of abuse” during his presentation of the report “Assessment of Institutional Responses (AIR) in cases of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable persons” within the Archdiocese of Panama between 2001 and 2025.
The report by the Transparency Commission (TC), a pilot project and the first from an interdisciplinary group of independent experts on addressing and preventing abuse within ecclesial settings, was presented on Sept. 22 at the Santa María La Antigua University auditorium in Panama City.
Speaking during the presentation, Ulloa emphasized: “It has already been said here, and we know it: Our Panamanian culture often prefers to remain silent, but in the face of abuse, we cannot remain silent.”
“We want to listen; we want to take every complaint seriously, with respect, and confidentiality, protecting the individuals involved and acting in accordance with established procedures,” he added.
The prelate explained that the archdiocese he leads “remains committed to reporting relevant allegations to the competent civil authorities in accordance with current legislation” and acknowledged the need to ask what can be done better to move forward in the prevention of abuse.
“A culture of protection is not built solely through written rules; it is built when every priest, religious, pastoral worker, collaborator, and member of our communities understands that protecting minors and vulnerable persons is an ongoing, shared responsibility,” the archbishop emphasized.
Asking forgiveness of the victims
The prelate also addressed “in a special way victims and survivors. We are deeply pained by the suffering you have endured.”
“It pains us to know that those who should have found a place of welcome, care, and trust within the Church experienced situations that caused them such deep wounds,” he continued.
Ulloa emphasized that “wherever members of our Church caused harm, and wherever our institutional response fell short of what the victims needed and had a right to expect, we ask for forgiveness in the name of the Church.”
The archbishop also noted that “over this 25-year period, and I wish to highlight this especially for the media, more than 18 priests have been removed from priestly ministry due to situations involving the Sixth Commandment, offenses against property, or other issues they have experienced.”
The Transparency Commission
According to its website, the Transparency Commission (TC) was established to conduct comprehensive investigations “in a holistic, professional, independent, and rigorous manner regarding cases of abuse of minors and vulnerable persons within the Church.” It is funded by the University of Notre Dame Law School in Indiana and Villanueva University in Madrid.
“This group of experts focuses its work on places where crises related to ecclesial abuse have not yet occurred or have not come to light,” notes the TC website.
Presentation of the report to the archbishop of Panama, José Domingo Ulloa. | Credit: Archdiocese of Panama
The report indicates that in cases of sexual abuse, the AIR “must place victims at the center of the analysis, since the way the institution protects their rights, addresses their needs, and fosters their reparation constitutes the primary criterion for evaluating the quality of the response provided.”
The Transparency Commission is composed of 17 individuals coordinated by Father Jordi Pujol, a lawyer who holds a doctorate in moral theology and is also a professor of law and communication ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
Its members include Father Thomas Berg, a professor and researcher at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame; Yago de la Cierva, a professor of preventive and crisis communication at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross; and Irma Patricia Espinosa, a psychiatrist, member of the National Council for the Protection of Minors of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, academic director and founding partner of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Training for the Protection of Minors (CEPROME) Latin America, and a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors since 2022.
Also serving on the Transparency Commission are María Inés Franck, professor of canon law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and a member of the Pastoral Council for the Protection of Minors of the Argentine Bishops’ Conference; Monsignor John Paul Kimes, professor of canon law at the University of Notre Dame Law School; and Father Daniel Portillo, dean of the psychology department at Lumen Gentium Catholic University in Mexico. He is the director and a founding member of CEPROME Latin America.
The Panama Report
The request for the report goes back to October 2025, when the archbishop of Panama requested an assessment of institutional response from the TC “on his own initiative, without a court order or a request from the Holy See.”
The commission stated that it accepted the assignment subject to three conditions: full access to information, total independence in the investigation, and a commitment to publish the findings. The archdiocese did not intervene in the compilation of the report and only saw it days before its presentation.
The TC states that it operated with financial independence: Its members received no remuneration from the archdiocese, and costs were covered by Notre Dame Law School and the Villanueva University Foundation. The archdiocese only covered transportation and accommodation and provided workspace.
The commission reported that, during the period under review, the archdiocese received 37 complaints of which it analyzed 24, while the remaining 13 were excluded from the analysis “because they referred to events that occurred outside the archdioceseʼs territory or the time frame examined, or because they did not involve abuse against minors or vulnerable persons.”
The report reveals that case management improved thanks to two initiatives by the archdiocese: the approval of guidelines in 2015 and the creation in 2024 of the Pastoral Care and Prevention Office and the Listening Office.
The report, currently available only in Spanish, identifies five areas requiring improvement: listening to and accompanying victims; record-keeping; prevention; justice for victims; and reparation.
“Making reparation requires acknowledging the harm, accepting personal and institutional responsibility, and addressing the physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, and social needs of each victim,” the commission emphasizes.
The pilot project
In a FAQ section about the report, the TC explains that this work is a pilot project because “it is the first time that a comprehensive methodology has been applied that can be replicated in other dioceses or ecclesial organizations.”
“This first project has allowed us to test a methodology and a work system, based on professional listening, research in archives, conducting interviews with various audiences of interest, and media analysis and the sociocultural context of the country,” it adds.
The Transparency Commission further specifies that the working methodology aims to “place victims at the center, protecting their rights, and guarantee due process for the accused,” applying a clear standard of prudence to avoid “revictimizing a victim or blaming an innocent person.”
The Transparency Commission also noted that “the Vatican has been kept informed of the workʼs progress at all times; both the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America are aware of the TC’s work. Furthermore, some members of the commission work or have worked with both the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
The TC concludes by noting that anyone who has suffered abuse within the Church may, at any time, turn to the Archdiocese of Panama’s Listening Office and file a report with the public prosecutorʼs office.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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