Bolivian Jesuits admit to having been negligent in the abuse of minors by priests

The Jesuits of Bolivia admitted to having had “negligent, indolent and disastrous” actions in the face of abuse by priests such as the late Luis María Roma, who like “Father Pica” also kept a diary and had photographs and videos of the indigenous girls of Bolivia. the ones he abused.

In a statement On June 16, the Society of Jesus in Bolivia recognized “with deep regret that the actions of those in charge of addressing complaints of sexual abuse of girls, boys and adolescents and acting on behalf of the victims were negligent, indolent and disastrous.”

This, the Jesuits in Bolivia highlighted, occurred “without placing the victims at the center of their interest, so those who acted in this way must be held responsible for their actions in the handling of such situations, as established by the Bolivian justice in the framework of due process.”

The statement was published a day after the Spanish newspaper The country published a report about the Spanish priest Luis María Roma, who is said to have “abused hundreds of indigenous girls in Bolivia for decades. “He photographed them, recorded them on video and recorded everything in writing.”

“On this occasion, the order carried out an internal investigation that confirmed the crimes and their cover-up. The Jesuits, after the death of Rome in 2019, kept the findings in a drawer where they have remained unpublished, until today,” the newspaper adds.

In their statement, the Jesuits point out that “the current authorities in charge of the government of the Society of Jesus in Bolivia have the moral obligation not to act as was done in the past, worthy of strong condemnation.”

“For this reason, in addition to having materialized your collaboration with the investigations carried out by the Public Ministry by presenting complaints to that body with the documentation that was available, in a line of absolute transparency so that the truth of the facts is known, we urge to the State Prosecutor’s Office to reopen the case of the Catalan Jesuit Luis María Roma and those it deems appropriate,” he continues.

This, “given the evidence of the testimony of victims and the material collected in the raids, to establish the responsibilities of those who may have known the facts and not have acted in accordance with the law.”

In that sense, the Jesuits of Bolivia have instructed that “a commission, led by the current Delegate of Healthy and Safe Environments, a lay professional and psychologist, immediately begins the work of contacting the victims of the Roma case, and other more denounced cases, to establish with them the best way to care for their particular situation.”

Who was the Jesuit priest Luis María Roma?

In May 2023, and within the framework of the investigations into the abuses of the Spanish Jesuit priest Alfonso Pedrajas “Padre Pica”, new accusations emerged against Luis María Roma Padrosa and Mons. Alejandro Mestre.

Both complaints were presented by former Jesuit provincial Osvaldo Chirveches, who stated that they had already been investigated and that it was time for the prosecutor’s office to intervene.

The case of Luis María Roma, who was a priest for 66 years, came to light in 2019, the year in which he died, based on an investigation by the Efe Agency.

Although the number of victims is not known, it is known that Father Roma Padrosa was accused of abusing minors between 7 and 12 years old in the town of Charagua, in eastern Bolivia. The complaint was supported by photographic records that were the property of the priest.

The priest was in that town of Santa Cruz between 1994 and 2005; while the abuses would have occurred between 1998 and 2002.

According to what was reported by the Página Siete portal, the case took four years to be reported to the Public Ministry. According to what said media indicates, “neither the Church nor the State promoted a public investigation or a judicial process.”

Once the investigation was completed, the final report was sent, along with all the documentation, to the General Curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome for study and consultation with the Congregation (today Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In September 2022, the plausibility of the accusations was determined.

Luis María Roma was also a teacher at the San Calixto school in La Paz, at the San Clemente School in Potosí and director of the Tacata Children’s Home, in Cochabamba.