News in brief. Spanish parliament orders investigation into abuse in Catholic Church. This week the Spanish parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into sexual abuse within the Spanish Catholic Church. This follows considerable frustration among the Spanish public about the Church’s reluctance to acknowledge its role in abuse. At the end of 2021, the conference of Spanish Catholic bishops rejected an independent investigation into historical sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. The president of the bishop’s conference also appeared to minimize the extent of abuse, insisting it could be addressed by the Church at local level.