(LifeSiteNews) — An independent institution appointed by the Catalan parliament in Spain launched a probe earlier this month into the Catalan province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) for allegedly sending sexually abusive priests to Bolivia, where they continued their patterns of abuse.

The investigation was launched in response to a request from the Bolivian Survivors’ Community, which accused the Catalan Jesuits of sending numerous priests known to have been abusive to Bolivia, making the South American country a “dumping ground for pedophiles,” per a Crux Now report. The inquiry will be added to an investigation into abuse allegations reported by former students of Barcelona’s Casp–Sagrat Cor de Jesús School, launched in 2023.

Edwin Alvarado, a spokesperson for the Bolivian Survivors’ Community, expressed some hope that the allegations would finally be investigated.

“We are optimistic because we understand that the investigation by the ombudsman and the Catalan parliament will help consolidate the historical truth that we have been building in Bolivia regarding ecclesiastical sexual abuse, as a foundation for continuing the pursuit of comprehensive justice,” he said.

Alvarado further emphasized, however, that they view this investigation with shame. “Because in Bolivia we were unable to establish a bicameral, multiparty parliamentary truth commission that is autonomous, funded, and independent,” he said.

The survivors accused the Jesuits of transferring several priests who had abused people in Catalonia to Bolivia, where they continued to commit egregious forms of abuse.

In one case, Father Francesc Peris, whose alleged abuse that dates to the 1960s had been reported by students at Casp–Sagrat Cor de Jesús School, was transferred in 1983 to the Colegio Juan XXIII (John XXIII College) in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where he allegedly abused girls in their dormitory at night. While Peris mainly targeted young girls, at least one boy reported being abused by him to the survivors’ community.

READ: Vatican ends probe into priest accused of ‘physical and psychological abuse’ at youth camps

Another priest, Father Lluís Tó González, had worked for years at another Jesuit school in Catalonia and in 1992 was convicted of sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl. After he served a brief two-year prison sentence, the Catalan Jesuits sent him to Bolivia, where he allegedly continued to abuse vulnerable young girls but was soon afterward sent by the Catalan province to Bolivia.

Letters from the 1990s exchanged between Jesuits in Catalonia and the Bolivian provincial and discovered by the Spanish newspaper El Periódico show that the order was aware of the allegations against the priest. In 2024, the Catalan Jesuits disclosed that there had been a whopping 145 allegations of sexual abuse against members of the province since 1948, including 25 allegations against Father Tó, who passed away in 2017 without being tried for his alleged abuse.

Indeed, several Jesuits have been accused of sexual abuse over several decades. One of the most notable cases was Father Marko Rupnik, who was accused of sexually, spiritually, psychologically, and physically abusing nuns as well as male victims.

READ: Vatican appoints judges to decide Rupnik sexual abuse case

In 2023, Pope Francis delegated the case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (now Dicastery). In October 2025, the DDF announced that it had appointed a panel of five judges to decide the canonical trial of Rupnik.