A women stolen from a hospital in Valencia almost half a century ago —
just one of many alleged abductions of newborn babies during the Franco
era — has been reunited with her biological mother, say police in the
Mediterranean port city.
The woman, now aged 48, has asked for her identity and that of her
mother to be kept private, saying that her adopted mother is seriously
ill and close to death.
In the wake of several stories that appeared in the media in 2011 —
revealing that during the Franco years a network of nuns and doctors at
certain hospitals had taken babies from poor families or single mothers
and given them to wealthy parents unable to conceive — the woman in
question decided to try and trace her biological mother. The abductions
are believed to have continued for several years after the death of
Franco, in 1975.
The woman, who strongly suspected she was a stolen baby, lodged a
judicial request to find her mother, the National Police said in a
statement.
She filed a request with the relevant authorities, and the Valencia force began investigating.
Campaign groups say thousands of newborns were stolen during the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco
"It has been a very complex and difficult investigation given the
time that has passed since the theft, in 1964, as well as the problems
associated with locating the records from that time," said the
statement.
Police officers eventually found hospital records dating back to when the woman's mother was admitted.
They then cross-checked those records, making a list of 200 women who
could have been her biological mother, eventually contacting each of
them. When they found a woman who had been told that her child had died
during birth, they carried out DNA tests, which confirmed that she was
the woman's relative.
"She was very surprised and happy to hear the news," the police statement said.
All these years the biological mother had lived believing that the
baby, whose gender she had never even been told, had died in
childbirth," it added.
Campaign groups for suspected victims of the practice, such as SOS
Bebes Robados and Añadir, say thousands of newborns were stolen during
the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
They say that around 1,500 court cases have been filed with
prosecutors but that judges have shelved many on the grounds that the
deeds were committed so long ago.
"Police are continuing investigations to locate those responsible for the abduction," the police said.
In April last year, Sister María Gómez Valbuena, 87, was the first
person to go before a judge over the scandal. She was questioned over
the kidnapping of a baby girl from a Madrid hospital three decades ago.
Last month, 47-year-old Quique Olivert, from the southern town of
Huelva, said he tracked down his birth parents with the help of SOS
Bebes Robados after his adoptive parents died.
Het zijn zuster Jeanne Devos (77), de historica Sophie De Schaepdrijver (51) van de Staatsuniversiteit van Pennsylvania State University (bekend dankzij haar werk ’De Groote Oorlog’), rechter Chris Van den Wyngaert (60) van het Joegoslavië-tribunaal en Koen Lenaerts (58), de ondervoorzitter van het Hof van Justitie van de Europese Unie in Luxemburg. 
CRIB 
Initially, the state police of Crime Branch concluded that the death was a suicide. But the petition of nun’s superiors led to a new investigation by CBI, which said Abhaya was murdered. It requested closure of the case for lack of evidence. But court rejected that request.
Wij hebben Uw schrijven ontvangen waarin U verklaart dat U zich wilt uitschrijven uit de katholieke kerk en de kerk door een formele act wilt verlaten. U zult begrijpen dat we dit erg jammer vinden, maar Uw besluit natuurlijk respecteren.
Dan gaan we nu over naar het volgende punt:
AMIENS (RKnieuws.net) - Een 38-jarige priester van het bisdom Amiens is gisteren in verdenking gesteld voor seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen. Dat meldt de Franse krant La Croix.
