“As a Church present in Bolivia, we deplore the fact that this type of excess is committed under an apparent effort to investigate,” they stressed.
The Society of Jesus in Bolivia in turn expressed its “concern and surprise” at the four raids carried out in an untimely manner at its offices.
The proceedings were carried out by commissions of prosecutors from the cities of La Paz, Sucre, El Alto, and Santa Cruz, who searched through the offices looking for documentation.
Given this “action without precedent or any reason,” the religious order issued a statement Aug. 28 explaining that the curia’s file was placed under seal on May 17 by the La Paz prosecutor’s office.
“It was a matter of documentation that had been fully available to the authorities for more than three months, no untimely operation being necessary for its review,” the statement explained.
On Monday, the file was opened by the Sucre prosecutors’ commission accompanied by representatives of the public prosecutor’s office of La Paz.