Spain investigating 68 allegations of child abuse by Catholic clergy, staff

FILE PHOTO: A woman wearing a face mask prays inside a church after a judge barred Catalan authorities from enforcing a stricter lockdown to residents in the city of Lleida, to control the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Lleida, Spain, July 13, 2020. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish prosecutors are investigating 68 cases of alleged sexual abuse of minors by Catholic church staff, the public prosecutor's office said on Wednesday in the first release of official data about such cases.

Allegations of child abuse by Catholic clergy and of possible cover-ups by the church are only surfacing now in Spain, years after similar scandals rocked the Church in other countries such as the United States, Ireland and France.