The Bolivian Catholic Church has admitted having been "deaf" to the suffering of victims of pedophile priests amid a fresh scandal over the alleged abuse of dozens of children.

Giovani Arana, secretary general of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference, said in a statement on Wednesday that "instead of giving them the protection and care they deserved, [the victims] met a church deaf to their suffering."

He added, "We have been part, directly or indirectly, of a deep pain caused to innocent people who have been victims of sexual abuse."

On Monday, Bolivian President Luis Arce wrote to Pope Francis to request files on sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests in the South American country.

Arana said Spanish priest Jordi Bertomeu, a top sex crimes investigator for the pope, has arrived in Bolivia to investigate the matter.

But Hilarion Baldiviezo, head of an association of former pupils of Juan XXIII, said on Wednesday the church "cannot be judge and accused" in the matter.

Deafening silence

Bolivia has been shocked by revelations since confessions of abuse were found in the personal diary of a Spanish priest who died of cancer in Bolivia in 2009 after decades of service there.

In the journal, which he kept on a laptop, Jesuit priest Alfonso Pedrajas wrote he had done "harm to many people ... too many," with the number 85 and a question mark.

He also noted that senior clergy had known about his crimes and kept quiet.

Pedrajas arrived in Bolivia in 1971 and worked as a teacher in various parts of the country. Most of the alleged abuses were committed at the Juan XXIII boarding school for poor, rural children in Cochabamba in the country's centre.

A family member had given the priest's diary to the El Pais newspaper in Spain, which published the revelations last month.

This led to Bolivian prosecutors opening at least eight cases against priests, including Pedrajas and three others from Spain: Luis Maria Roma, Alejandro Mestre and Antonio Gausset.

All four are deceased, but there are other accused still alive.

Baldivieso denounced "the cover-up" of Pedrajas' crimes by the church.

Former Jesuit priest Pedro Lima told the AFP news agency last week that not only minors but also trainee clergy were subjected to sexual abuse in Bolivia.

Lima claimed he was expelled from the Jesuit order in 2001 for reporting abuses.