2023-05-01 03:08:18
The Bolivian Attorney General, Wilfredo Chávez, announced this Sunday that he will initiate an investigation into the sexual abuse of Bolivian minors by the Spanish Jesuit Alfonso Pedrajas, revealed by EL PAÍS in the Diary of a Pedophile Priest. The Society of Jesus in Bolivia also published a statement explaining that a commission of experts from the religious institution admitted the “credibility” of a complaint against Pedrajas filed in August 2022 and has announced that another investigation is underway. “We are embarrassed by the situation,” the order states.
According to the report in this newspaper, the complaint was filed by Fernando Pedrajas, the priest’s nephew, after reading his personal diary. The aforementioned priest died in 2009, in Bolivia, of cancer. The Bolivian prosecutor said in a tweet that the Catholic Church’s cover-up of the activities of Alfonso Pedrajas, known in the Bolivian schools where he worked as Pica, should be investigated.
“This horror would have been covered up by the leadership of the Catholic Church at the time, according to the publication of the Spanish newspaper. On the first business day, we will request the background information, via the consular, so that this very serious fact can be investigated in Bolivia,” Chávez wrote. The order (at least seven provincial superiors and a dozen Bolivian and Spanish clergy) covered up their crimes and the complaints of some victims, the information maintains.
Pedrajas completed most of his 48-year religious mission in Bolivia, where he was a teacher, school director, in charge of novices, and religious vocations counselor, among other positions. These positions put him in relationship with children and young people, despite the fact that several of his colleagues and superiors knew at some point, through his confession, that he was a risk for his students and pupils.
The Society of Jesus in Bolivia, in a statement released on the same Sunday, expressed “deep regret for the damage caused to the victims.” “We feel embarrassed by the situation and, according to the policy established for these cases, we reaffirm our commitment to listen to the victims, seek justice in cases where possible and continue working to end this scourge (pedophile in the ranks of the Catholic Church)”, he adds.
The Bolivian press has recalled that Pica was fired after his death, with great expressions of regret from politicians, religious, university teachers and students in Bolivia. “He deceived them all,” published the newspaper The times. One of Pedrajas’ victims, interviewed by EL PAÍS, admitted that the priest, who committed most of his crimes at the Juan XXIII school in Cochabamba —a renowned boarding school for children from poor families— had charisma and skills. Many were grateful for his work, while others he forever damaged their lives.
After denouncing his uncle before the ecclesiastical and civil authorities of Bolivia and Spain, the priest’s nephew contacted this newspaper and gave him his uncle’s diary. Alfonso Pedrajas estimated the number of his victims at around 85: “I hurt a lot of people (85?), Too many,” he confesses on one of the pages of his Historywhich was stored in a drawer in the priest’s family home until his nephew found it in 2021.
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