If for whatever reason the manuscript is in your hands and you want to return it to its rightful owner, in Spain there is a very simple and safe procedure: Go to a Catholic church and deliver it under the secret of confession. The Code of Canon Law absolutely prohibits confessors from using the knowledge acquired in the confession. According to Canon Law, the confidentiality of the confessor is inviolable and the priest who reveals something that he knows through confession incurs a penalty of excommunication. That is why many legislations, such as the Spanish one, provide for a dispensation by which ecclesiastics can not be forced to declare facts that would have revealed them in confession, as opposed to the general duty to tell the truth that is required of any witness.
On the Internet you have a lot of information about the confession procedure and its guarantees.
You should also know:
- That on April 18, 2018 the criminal proceeding opened in the Court of Instruction No. 1 of Alcobendas was shelved. This means that the CRIMINAL LIABILITY that may arise from the criminal proceedings related to the theft of the manuscript by prescription and because the case has been filed is EXTINGUISHED. This, obviously, does not mean that someone can, for example, trade with the manuscript, but it does ensure that if the responsible for the disappearance is discovered, he can not be prosecuted for this offence.
- That the responsibility of a worker for some event related to the disappearance of the manuscript is EXTINGUISHED also, as much by what the Civil Code prescribes as the Statute of the Workers.
The most current means of contact or mailing address of the Foundation can always be found at cansinos.org
