Balanced News: Pope Sends Vatican Official to Bolivia as Abuse Allegations Escalate

Pope Francis has sent Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, a leading member of the church’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, to Bolivia to investigate escalating pedophilia allegations involving priests. Bertomeu arrived on the same day as former Jesuit seminarian Pedro Lima, an important witness in the case, who has vowed to reveal more information about alleged cases of abuse. The Bolivian Episcopal Conference said Bertomeu’s visit was planned earlier to analyze “the progress made in the field of the culture of prevention” promoted by the Vatican. There are reportedly 23 priests implicated in pedophilia in Bolivia, including one who was recently sent to pretrial detention for three months.