Revelations about abuses in the Jesuit order
Relevant news related to acts of abuse within the Society of Jesus continues to emerge. The General Curia located in Rome, which represents the highest governing body of the Jesuit order, has received a detailed report on the investigation carried out by its members in Bolivia. This investigation, carried out in 2019, focused on the case of the Spanish Lucho Roma, a missionary who, between 1983 and 2002, perpetrated abuses against more than a hundred indigenous girls. Roma not only abused them, but also documented his crimes through photographs and video recordings, leaving a written testimony in a diary. According to recently published information, this report reached the hands of Claudio Paul, who is the advisor to the superior general of the Society of Jesus and has a key role in the South Latin American region. In 2020, he sent an email to provincial Ignacio Suñol, highlighting the need to act with transparency and inform the competent authorities in Bolivia.
Ignored instructions and lack of actions
Despite the directives received, the Jesuits in Bolivia decided to reject all the recommendations, except for the one that ordered the hiding of Lucho Roma’s writings, which were called The Charagua Manuscripts, in reference to the place where Rome carried out its missionary work and where committed his crimes. When the scandal arose, the Society of Jesus chose to remain silent regarding the figure of the Spanish priest. Recently, a diary was released in which Rome confessed to his atrocities and detailed more than a hundred victims. The information acquired during the investigation carried out in 2019, just before Roma’s death, originated from an internal complaint. This investigation included forensic reports, testimonies that corroborated the abuses, and evidence of the systematic cover-up of the abuses by the order for years. After the revelation of these events, the Jesuits finally admitted what happened and established an internal commission to communicate with the victims.
Cover-up and inaction
An email has revealed the cover-up of cases not only by the Jesuits in Bolivia, but also from Rome. When asked why the Society of Jesus never took disciplinary action against those responsible in Bolivia, Claudio Paul responded that it is not his place to address internal issues of the Congregation in external forums. In the same message, he refused to give explanations as to why the events were not reported to the authorities. Additionally, the Society of Jesus has declined to respond to further questions posed by the media outlet, with Jesuit spokesperson Sergio Montes simply saying that was the only information they could provide.
Detailing Lucho Roma’s abuses
In the exchange of emails between Claudio Paul and Ignacio Suñol in 2020, three fundamental points were established that should be followed. First, a plan had to be designed to address potential abuse complainants, with the support of the Jesuit province of Chile. This plan was aimed at offering psychological treatment to those victims who presented themselves. It was essential to decide who would be in charge of receiving the victims (preferably not a Jesuit) and establish a reparation process. However, to date, the Jesuits have not provided any form of support or reparations to the victims, even though Lucho Roma documented more than 70 names of his victims in his diary.
Communication and the steps to follow
Secondly, emphasis was placed on the need to publicize the case both internally and externally. Paul recommended Suñol send a letter to the superiors of all the Jesuit communities in the country to inform them about the Rome investigation, which had revealed abundant abuses against minors. He also mentioned that this information had been notified to the Vatican and that, for victims who came forward, psychological help would be offered as a form of compensation. In addition, he urged to publish a statement in the province’s media, specifying the full name of Lucho Roma. Despite these indications, the Jesuits chose to issue a brief statement on their website that did not provide details about the case and only referred to the priest’s initials.
Consequences of cover-up and outrage
Finally, Paul warned that the internal documents, including the copy of the investigation and Lucho Roma’s diary, should be kept in the Curia with confidential treatment, pointing out that they were ‘classified information’. This is the only recommendation that the Jesuits have followed to the letter since Bolivia. In his diary, Roma described the abuses committed between 1994 and 2005, providing details about the images, videos and attacks on more than a hundred indigenous girls. The documents, which total 75 pages, were disorganized and many were undated, organized in three different folders. The Bolivian Community of Survivors has expressed its deep discontent at the systematic cover-up that has occurred, not only in the Provincial Curia of Bolivia, but also in the General Curia in Rome.
