Between Sanctity and Real Life: Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church in Spain.

This research assessed clergymen perceptions of child sexual abuse in Catalonia (Spain) and identified elements pointing toward anomie and a discourse linked to the neutralization of the perpetrators' criminal responsibility. The study included 20 interviews from diocesan priests and members of religious congregations, who highlighted the impact of sexual abuse on clergy, the plurality of sensitivities, the existence of discourses tending to idealization, the presence of neutralization techniques and the existence of an institutionalized and persistent anomie within the Catholic Church. This research concluded that the problem of child sexual abuse is related to both individual (such as loneliness, among others) and institutional aspects (for example, selection and training of future clergymen, among others). To reduce the tension existing between cultural goals and institutional means, institutional reforms are necessary in terms of reviewing and de-consecrating cultural goals and improving adaptation of institutional means, while also focusing on supporting clerics and reducing loneliness. A debate needs to be normalized inside the Church, related to moralism, clerical power, and celibacy, among others.

Fishing for litter, accidental catch in bottom trawl nets along the Catalan coast, Northwestern Mediterranean.

The seafloor of the Mediterranean Sea accumulates marine litter (ML), an area where bottom trawlers operate and can accidentally catch the litter from the seafloor. This study aims to describe and quantify the ML caught by bottom trawlers along the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean Sea) and estimate the potential of the bottom trawl fleet to extract ML from the area as a Fishing for Litter (FFL) initiative to tackle the ML issue. Marine litter was collected from commercial trawlers and was classified as metal, plastic, rubber, textile, wood, and other waste and weighed (kg) from 305 hauls performed during three years (2019-2021) from 9 different ports at 3 different depths. ML was present in 97 % of the hauls, with plastic being the most abundant material. The composition varied according to zone, port and depth, with the highest densities found in highly urbanized areas (13.75 ± 3.25 kg km-2), which mainly contained plastics (74.3 %). The port of Barcelona had the highest presence of plastics (23.62 ± 6.49 kg km-2), mainly wet wipes. Regarding depth, the continental shelf had the highest density of ML, with 12.24 ± 2.40 kg km-2. The potential ML removal (t year-1) was calculated using fishing effort (hours). It is estimated that the bottom trawlers may potentially remove 237 ± 36 t year-1 of ML in the Catalan coast. FFL initiatives should be part of a multidisciplinary approach to tackle marine litter, which must include prevention, monitoring, and cleaning actions.