Sex Abuse Scandal In Church: Vatican Sends Priest's Diary To Bolivia

Amid a sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church in Bolivia, the Vatican has sent evidence to the South American nation.

The Society of Jesus of Bolivia said in a statement on Thursday that a diary that belonged to the late Alfonso Pedrajas, the priest who is accused of abusing dozens of minors, was sent to them by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, reported the Associated Press.

It looks into clergy sexual abuse cases. The diary was then handed over to the prosecutor's office in Cochabamba, where the alleged abuse happened.

The Society of Jesus said that it will also request a copy of the diary that was written by the priest, who died in 2009. The request is so that they get to know about its full contents, as per NBC News.

Only a few excerpts were published in April by the newspaper El País. The priest, who was originally from Valencia in Spain, allegedly confessed in the diary to having abused 85 minors. The incidents allegedly happened mostly in boarding schools in Cochabamba between the 1970s and 1990s.

The priest's nephew Fernando Pedrajas reportedly found a printout of the diary in an attic. He had then turned it over to the newspaper.

The priest Pedrajas wrote that he hurt so "many people (85?). Too many."

After the excerpts were published by the newspaper, there was an outcry in Bolivia. Later, Pope Francis promised to ensure "the full cooperation of the Church to work alongside the government" as it looks into the allegations.

Over the ongoing revelations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, he also expressed sorrow. He called them "deplorable."

The abuse claims are being investigated by the public prosecutor's office.

In May, Priest Jordi Bertomeu, who is a sex-crime investigator from the Vatican, reached Bolivia. He has been helping to collect information about prevention efforts being taken within the church to stop sexual abuse. He had previously conducted probes into church officials in Paraguay and Chile.

According to Al Jazeera, Pedrajas was placed in the 1970s at Jesuit boarding schools for underprivileged youngsters. He was mostly in Cochabamba.

His diary revealed he had told a colleague about the abuse, but was advised not to mention it in future confessions.