ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 4, 2023 / 18:30 pm
The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) described as “senseless” a lawsuit filed on Oct. 2 by a group of former students of the John XXIII School in Bolivia against the order’s provincial, Father Bernardo Mercado.
The religious order maintained in an Oct. 3 statement that any crime “that some Jesuits may have committed are entirely their own responsibility” and assured that the Society of Jesus “will be the first to ensure that possible sanctions are applied without any kind of privilege.”
On Oct. 2, alleged victims of sexual abuse by Jesuit priests filed a complaint accusing Mercado of “omission” of responsibilities “by not having prevented these crimes from being committed that the highest authorities of the Society of Jesus of Bolivia knew about.”
In a press release shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, by the Association of Alumni of the John XXIII School of the Society of Jesus, it is explained that the complaint was filed with the prosecutor’s office specializing in gender crimes.