Vatican Takes Over Troubled Catholic Group in Peru Ahead of Pope’s Visit
- 6 years ago
Vatican Takes Over Troubled Catholic Group in Peru Ahead of Pope’s Visit
The Vatican said the congregation had decided on the "commissioning" of the society,
and the appointment of a Colombian bishop, Noel Antonio Londoño, as the commissioner, after the recent moves by Peruvian prosecutors to arrest Mr. Figari and a "profound analysis of all the documentation." The decision was the latest — and most significant — action by the Vatican since it first ordered an investigation into the society in 2015.
10, 2018
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Wednesday took over a Peru-based Catholic movement whose founder has been accused of abusing its members sexually, physically
and psychologically, just days before Pope Francis starts a trip to Chile and Peru.
A Vatican statement said the congregation for religious orders had issued a decree naming a commissioner to take over the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a conservative movement
that has about 20,000 members and chapters throughout South America and the United States.
A 2017 investigative report commissioned by the society’s new leadership found
that Mr. Figari was a charismatic intellectual but also "narcissistic, paranoid, demeaning, vulgar, vindictive, manipulative, racist, sexist, elitist and obsessed with sexual issues and the sexual orientation of SCV members." The report, by two Americans and an Irish expert in abuse, found that Mr. Figari sodomized his recruits and forced them to touch him and one another.
The decree to place the society under a Vatican-appointed commissioner signals
that the Holy See believes the Sodalitium is incapable of reforming itself despite a series of measures its new leadership had taken to try to make amends with victims, acknowledge past abuses and change its internal operations.
In the statement, the Vatican said that Francis had followed the Sodalitium saga for years, and
that he had asked that the congregation pay particular attention to it.
The Vatican said the congregation had decided on the "commissioning" of the society,
and the appointment of a Colombian bishop, Noel Antonio Londoño, as the commissioner, after the recent moves by Peruvian prosecutors to arrest Mr. Figari and a "profound analysis of all the documentation." The decision was the latest — and most significant — action by the Vatican since it first ordered an investigation into the society in 2015.
10, 2018
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Wednesday took over a Peru-based Catholic movement whose founder has been accused of abusing its members sexually, physically
and psychologically, just days before Pope Francis starts a trip to Chile and Peru.
A Vatican statement said the congregation for religious orders had issued a decree naming a commissioner to take over the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a conservative movement
that has about 20,000 members and chapters throughout South America and the United States.
A 2017 investigative report commissioned by the society’s new leadership found
that Mr. Figari was a charismatic intellectual but also "narcissistic, paranoid, demeaning, vulgar, vindictive, manipulative, racist, sexist, elitist and obsessed with sexual issues and the sexual orientation of SCV members." The report, by two Americans and an Irish expert in abuse, found that Mr. Figari sodomized his recruits and forced them to touch him and one another.
The decree to place the society under a Vatican-appointed commissioner signals
that the Holy See believes the Sodalitium is incapable of reforming itself despite a series of measures its new leadership had taken to try to make amends with victims, acknowledge past abuses and change its internal operations.
In the statement, the Vatican said that Francis had followed the Sodalitium saga for years, and
that he had asked that the congregation pay particular attention to it.