Religious Order Seeking “forgiveness” for Former Member’s Abuse of Minors in Senegal

Making reference to testimonies gathered from investigations realized in collaboration with the Commission for the Defense of Sexually Abused Minors in the Church in Senegal, Piarists in Catalonia say Manel Sales “sexually abused an important number of minors, some of them schoolboys in Senegal.” 

“Sales deceived the children and took advantage of his status as a missionary and of the ascendancy and authority he had,” the Religious Order that St. Joseph Calasanz (1557-1648) founded in 1617 further say.

The Order whose members take a fourth vow of special care of youth notes that Sales’ sexual abuses were known to “both students at the Piarist schools and the local people. However, due to a cultural issue as well as the fact that in Senegal homosexuality is illegal and punishable by prison sentences, no one denounced the crimes for all this time.”

In 2005, a group of Catalan women became aware of the abuses and decided to report the case to the Escola Pia. 

In response, the Religious Order brought Sales to Catalonia, where he continued to serve in various capacities, including as Rector, Provincial Secretary, and member of the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese of Barcelona. 

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In their June 30 statement, Piarists in Catalonia say the Provincial Superior at the time failed to take action after cases of abuse were reported, instead “prioritizing his desire to protect the institution.”

Sales was expelled from the Religious Order and from the priesthood in March 2019, after the case was reactivated in 2018 following a complaint from a French citizen. 

In the June 30 statement, Piarists in Catalonia express “absolute indignation, rejection, and repulsion” for the sexual abuse of minors. 

They further say the case has been transferred to the “public prosecutors again as well as to the ecclesiastical authorities and the new leader of the Piarist branch has traveled to Senegal to contact the victims and offer them help.”

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.