The Bolivian Episcopal Conference announces a general investigation of past cases of pedophilia

Bishop Giovani Arana, secretary general of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference, announces the creation of a commission of inquiry into all cases of pedophilia abuse in the Bolivian Church, this Wednesday in La Paz.

EL PAÍS launched in 2018 an investigation of pedophilia in the Spanish Church and has an updated database with all known cases. If you know of any case that has not seen the light, you can write to: abusos@elpais.es. If it is a case in Latin America, the address is: abusosamerica@elpais.es.

─────────

Surrounded by the pedophilia scandal, the Bolivian Episcopal Conference has taken a step forward and announced that it will launch a general investigation into past abuse cases. In a statement published on Wednesday, the Bolivian bishops have acknowledged that their work so far in the face of this problem has been insufficient and, therefore, have decided "to create a national listening commission and a national commission of inquiry to determine responsibilities and make visible what has happened." The Conference has not specified who will form these commissions, whether they will carry out an investigation with independent experts, whether they will financially compensate the victims or whether they will open their files to collect data. Yes, he has pointed out that he will enable several "places" to receive complaints and that he will communicate "with transparency to the public opinion the progress" of his work. The prelates also pledged "to do everything possible to accompany and seek reparation" for the victims, "with the support of professionals who provide assistance and help heal wounds and scars."

The decision of the Bolivian bishops comes at a time when allegations of sexual abuse of minors have not stopped growing in the country. The fuse was lit by the Pedrajas case, the story of the Spanish Jesuit Alfonso Pedrajas, who died in 2009, who admitted in a secret diary to having abused dozens of minors in centers of the order in Bolivia for decades and how his superiors protected him and covered up his crimes. Faced with the news, the Jesuits removed eight former senior officials as possible perpetrators and the Bolivian Episcopal Conference publicly asked for forgiveness. Along with the media and political earthquake – the Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation and President Luis Arce has presented a draft law to curb impunity for these crimes – new allegations have come to light and some of them have reached the highest spheres of the Bolivian Church. This is the case of the Spanish Jesuit Alejandro Mestre, who died in 1988 and who was archbishop of La Paz, denounced by a victim of sexual abuse in 1961, when Mestre was a teacher at the La Paz school of San Calixto. In addition to holding the position of bishop, he wassecretary general of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference in the early eighties, one of the most influential positions of the Church in the Latin American country. On this case, the Bolivian bishops still do not pronounce themselves.

The Conference justifies that they have been working for some years on prevention "to create safe environments" and on "actions aimed at punishing the crimes that have happened." However, this discourse does not convince the victims and several feminist groups, who have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest the management of the Church in the face of accusations of pedophilia. Some of the protests have taken place at the gates of the headquarters of the Episcopal Conference, where demonstrators have painted on the facade of the building phrases such as: "Rapist priests outside Bolivia" or "Pedophiles". They have also lit bonfires, in which they have burned photographs of pedophile priests while calling for the expulsion of clergy from schools.

Faced with this situation, the bishops say they are facing a painful moment: "Not because we are suffering attacks and threats, but because we are certain that we have been part, directly or indirectly, of a deep pain caused to innocent people who have been victims of sexual abuse and insufficient handling of the situation." Now, their main mission, they show in their writing, are the victims and the ecclesial community, "who instead of giving them the protection and care they deserved, found a Church deaf to their sufferings."

In the background, the bishops have also shown themselves willing to work with the Public Ministry, the Police and the judicial bodies to help "with the investigations that are carried out for the clarification of the facts and the transparent administration of justice." They have not specified whether they will hand over to the civil authorities all the complaints that have reached their offices or those that will arrive during the future investigation.

A decision taken after the Vatican visit

The statement of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference lands days after the priest Jordi Bertomeu, one of the great experts on abuse and sent by Pope Francis to the Latin American country to discuss this problem with the Bolivian bishops. This has also been cited by the Episcopal Conference in the document, referring to the creation of this commission of inquiry as the "fruit" of the days that Bertomeu has spent with them.

Bertomeu, an officer of the disciplinary section of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is known for having participated in numerous missions in Latin America, such as in the cases of pedophilia of Father Maciel in the Legionaries of Christ or in the abuse scandal in the Chilean Church, which ended with the dismissal of practically the entire ecclesial leadership of that country. His arrival in Bolivia was not seen with good eyes by many victims, who are concerned about "that an institution [the Catholic Church] that is investigated for possible commission of crimes in degree of cover-up and complicity meets with the victims," according to the association of former students of John XXIII, a Jesuit school where more cases of pedophilia have come to light.

75% discount

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Read more

I'm already a subscriber