Three priests have been arrested in Spain over suspicion of the sexual abuse of children. A layman was also arrested.
The arrests in Granada were announced by the country’s interior minister, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, who provided no details. A secrecy order has been imposed by a judge.
This has not stopped speculation, however, and the newspaper El Pais said the four were believed to belong to the ultraconservative group, Los Romanones.
Last week, several priests in the Archdiocese of Granada were suspended after a man wrote to Pope Francis saying that he had been abused when he was an altar boy.
It is believed that the Pope telephoned the man to offer apologies on behalf of the church, although this was neither confirmed nor denied by the Vatican.
Some also believe that the Pope was behind this latest inquiry.
On Sunday, the Archbishop of Granada and other priests prostrated themselves on the floor of the cathedral to seek pardon for the sexual abuse which has taken place in the Catholic Church.
Last year Pope Francis strengthened the Vatican’s laws against child abuse, condemning the Church for “complicity” in hiding the “grave crimes” some of its priests have committed.
