The Society of Jesus in Catalonia is in the eye of the hurricane because of the accusations of pederasty by Catalan religious of this order in Bolivia and because of the allegations of sexual abuse presented by former students of the Casp Jesuit school in Barcelona. The Jesuits announced yesterday that they have requested “external help” and that they have hired the firm Roca Junyent to settle their responsibilities.
This has been announced by Enric Puiggròs, delegate of the Company of Jesus in Catalonia and president of the board of trustees of the Jesuit Education Foundation, responsible for its network of schools. This spokesman was clear in some aspects, such as the criticism of the facts: “We condemn, regret and ask for forgiveness for the suffering caused”. In other matters he did not want or could not be as explicit, as in the number of complaints.
It is not easy to establish a definitive number of complainants and those reported, he said, because “not all victims have come to us and have preferred to surface their case through the press”. It is an understandable attitude, he added, “because it is not always easy to return to the institution where the abuses were committed in the past”. Two of the main ones identified so far, Fathers Roma and Peris, “are separated”. Both were already “subject to the minimum possible apostolic activity”, said Enric Puiggròs. Nevertheless, the delegate of the Society of Jesus recognized that the first of them, Francis Roma, was officiating masses in the church of the Sacred Heart “until three weeks ago”.
The priest who replaced him in the services, Monsignor Puig (nothing to do with Enric Puiggròs), read during his homily two weeks ago a statement in which he admitted bad practices in the past and warned that Father Roma was reflecting on what had done, without openly admitting guilt. On Sunday, his regular parishioners organized to write a letter and support him.
The missive, written in Catalan and reproduced on our website, acknowledges that “we failed when we considered the members of the Church angels fallen from heaven (…) and not humans, with their faults and virtues”. The text praises the religious, whom the Society of Jesus itself prevented from presenting a book in its premises when the scandal broke.
“If 40 years ago or more an isolated, regrettable behavior took place, this does not erase that day by day, holiday after holiday, the faithful are very lucky [from your homilies] full of the Spirit”. In his appearance before the press, Enric Puiggròs was very distant from this condescending attitude and regretted that the statute of limitations for crimes makes it impossible for ordinary justice to intervene in most cases.
