La Paz, Bolivia (AP) – As a priestly pedophilia scandal continues to rock the Andean country, Pope Francis said in a letter to President Luis Arce on Friday that Bolivian priests sexually abused him. He expressed concern and regret over the allegations. .
The Pope promised “the church will cooperate fully with the government” regarding the ongoing investigation. allegations of abuse.
In a letter dated May 31, read out on Friday by Reverend María Nera Prada, Francis said, “It is a deplorable fact that it has affected and continues to affect those who have been sexually abused by church members.” I express my sorrow for his actions,” he said. A minister from the Bolivian president’s office at a press conference in La Paz.
In the letter, Mr Francisco said he sympathized with the president’s “concern, anger and condemnation” of recent reported incidents and the “inaction of alarming people”.
Francis replied to a letter Arce sent last month. Pedophilia Allegations Concerning Jesuit Priests It was revealed. Alfonso Pedrajas, who died of cancer in 2009, said in a personal diary published by Spanish newspaper El Pais that he abused dozens of minors at a Catholic boarding school dating back to the 1970s. bottom.
Commenting on the letter on social media, Arce praised President Francisco’s “willingness to take concrete and concerted action against impunity for sex crimes”.
Arce added that Bolivia should “strengthen controls to prevent the entry of foreign priests with a history of sex crimes”.
The Bolivian Public Prosecutor’s Office started an investigation He called on the victims to come forward. The investigation uncovered a new case of sexual abuse and sent a priest to the police. 3 months pretrial detention last month.
Judicial investigations into 12 clerics have been launched in Bolivia so far, including one that has already sentenced a priest accused of rape to 10 years in prison, Bolivia said. The Episcopal Church (CEB) announced earlier this week. In some of them, people accused of abuse have already died.
Jordi Bertomeu, a Spanish priest and one of the Vatican’s top sex crimes investigators, said: I was in Bolivia last month Partly to deal with the aftermath of the growing sexual abuse scandal. He previously led investigations into similar accusations by clerics in Chile and Paraguay.
