High official of the Vatican visits Bolivia, while allegations of pedophilia shock the country

At a time when more complaints of pedophilia cases are added, after a well-known scandal that shakes the Catholic Church in Bolivia, Pope Francis sent one of the most important members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the South American country.

The Spanish Jordi Bertomeu arrived on Monday from Paraguay, where he is investigating similar complaints. In 2018, he was the one who led the investigations into the abuse of minors by priests committed in Chile.

However, the Bolivian Episcopal Conference clarified that Bertomeu’s visit is not directly related to the recent complaints, but that it was scheduled in advance and seeks to analyze “the progress made in the line of the culture of prevention” promoted by the Vatican.

The meetings “will be held in a climate of deep closeness to all those who have been victims of the scourge of abuse in the Church,” the Episcopal Conference said in a statement.

Bertomeu “is a very trusted person of Pope Francis, he is in charge of looking at these issues and he comes to give some guidance on how we can handle this issue, listen and accompany the victims,” ​​declared the secretary of the Conference, Monsignor Giovani Arana. .

Sexual abuse sparks investigation

The visit of the Vatican official comes shortly after the outbreak of the case of the Spanish Jesuit Alfonso Pedrajas who, according to an intimate diary to which the Spanish newspaper had access The countryallegedly abused some 85 minors in Catholic boarding schools in Bolivia in the 1970s and 1980s. Pedrajas died of cancer in 2009.

The Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation -which is kept secret- and has called on the victims to file complaints. For its part, the Society of Jesus in Bolivia apologized to the victims and has promised to support the investigation while denouncing Pedrajas’s superiors -many of whom are no longer working or have died- for their alleged concealment.

In the framework of that investigation, a former Bolivian Jesuit seminarian -considered by the authorities to be an important witness- declared himself a victim and promised to collaborate with the authorities.

“I am not only a witness but a victim of abuse of power, sexual abuse and abuse of conscience by the Society of Jesus in Bolivia,” said former seminarian Pedro Lima, upon his arrival in La Paz, on Monday to testify before the Prosecutor’s Office. In a press conference upon his arrival, he accused three Jesuits of having covered up the alleged abuses.

On Sunday, Monsignor René Leigue, Archbishop of Santa Cruz, said in his homily: “We know that not all priests, one or some have made a mistake (…) Every mistake, every crime must be investigated and justice must be done, Sure, but what we ask here is that this not be politicized.”

The one from Pedrajas opened other ventilated cases in justice in the past. Prosecutor Wilfredo Chávez said that “there are 23 priests involved in pedophilia in the country” and that one of them was sent to jail in preventive detention last week.

Since the Pedrajas case broke out, there have been protests in some Catholic churches and schools. Parents have also come out in defense of Catholic education and have asked that it not be stigmatized.

On Friday, the Bolivian government said it will demand from the Vatican the “background” of those priests who enter the country on mission.

“This is a preventive measure,” said presidential spokesman Jorge Richter. “The records of each of these religious, especially foreigners, who arrive in the country will be requested,” he explained.

[Con información de Reuters y AP]

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