Scandal-plagued Peru group, movement announce suppression by Vatican

ROME – On Monday, the Peru-based Sodalitium Christiane Vitae (SCV) and the Christian Life Movement (CLM) attached to it announced that after nearly two years of investigation by the Vatican, they had been formally suppressed by Pope Francis, bringing a close to a decade-long saga marred by allegations of abuse and financial corruption.

In the April 14 statement, the SCV said that earlier that morning, “the Superior General of the Sodalitium signed the decree suppressing our community at the headquarters of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, in the presence of Sister Simona Brambilla, prefect of the dicastery.”

Similarly, the CLM said in their own statement the same day that, earlier that morning, “the decree of the suppression of the Christian Life Movement, a private association of the faithful of pontifical rite, was [signed] in the city of Rome.”

Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu were tasked by Pope Francis with conducting a Special Mission investigating abuses and financial corruption within the SCV in 2023.

Scicluna is the Archbishop of Malta and also serves as adjunct secretary to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, where Bertomeu is also an official, and which, among other things, is tasked with handling allegations of clerical abuse. Scicluna also serves president of a board of review for abuse cases within the dicastery.

The SCV said Bertomeu had been named as Apostolic Commissioner “for the tasks related to the suppression of the Sodalitium,” which includes he liquidation of assets, accompaniment of members, and reparations for victims. Bertomeu has also been named commissioner for the suppression of the SCV’s other branches.

In their statement, the SCV asked forgiveness of victims for “the mistreatment and abuses committed in our community,” and they also asked forgiveness “from the church and from society for the pain caused.”

They referred to an ongoing process of reparation, voicing hope that it would “give fruits,” and said they are praying for the healing of the wounds inflicted by members of the community.

“The Good Lord has mysterious ways by which he can always make all things new. With hope, we entrust ourselves to the prayers of all at this time, so that, always accompanied by the intercession of Saint Mary, this may be a privileged time of conversion and of listening in a renewed way to the voice of God, always in communion with the Holy Father and our mother the church,” they said.

In their own statement, the CLM said they “welcome this decision, specifically approved by Pope Francis, with filial obedience. We renew our adherence to the Holy Father and the holy church, to whom we reiterate our fidelity and love.”

They also asked forgiveness “from the depths of our hearts” from all those “who have suffered any form of abuse” within the CLM, and prayed for “the gift of reconciliation for all.”

The CLM, established in Peru in 1985, voiced its commitment to collaborating “with truth and justice in every path of reparation.”

A Society of Apostolic Life and the largest ecclesial lay movement in Peru, the SCV was founded by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari in 1971.

Born in Lima in 1947, Figari is the founder of a men’s lay community, the SCV; a women’s lay community, the Marian Community of Reconciliation (MCR); a community of women religious, the Servants of the Plan of God; and an ecclesial movement, called the “Christian Life Movement,” all of which share the same spirituality.

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Figari and 14 other top-ranking members of the SCV, including the former archbishop of Piura, Peru, were expelled from the group last year amid the ongoing Special Mission inquiry.

Both the MCR and the Servants announced their formal definitive suppression earlier this year at the close of an investigation that initially began with only the SCV but eventually expanded into the group’s other branches, as former members lodged broad complaints of various forms of abuse and sectarian behavior.

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Though it has not yet been announced, it is believed that the CLM has also been suppressed, as Bertomeu had previously announced that all entities by Figari would be. If that is the case, then presumably all SCV branches have formally ceased to exist, and a period of liquidation has begun.

While not necessarily unprecedented in the Catholic Church, the decision to suppress all branches of a spiritual family that share one founder and adhere to one ‘charisma’ is extremely rare.

It potentially sets a new standard for potential future Vatican intervention, as a decision of this magnitude has not been made with other groups accused of similar forms of misconduct, including the Legionaries of Christ and its associated entities after allegations surfaced against their founder, Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Degollado.

Observers believe the reason for this is not only the allegations, past and recent, of sexual abuse and coverup against various members, but also the accusations of broad financial corruption and mafia-esque tactics of attacking and attempting to discredit critics, victims, and journalists reporting on the scandals, as well as one of the Vatican investigators.

The suppression of the SCV family comes at the end of a long and complicated years-long process featuring several rounds of temporary leadership and Vatican-appointed delegates for various aspects of internal reform which victims said were ineffective, as corrupt higher-ups maintained their grip on power, and on the money.

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Allegations against Figari for the abuse of minors were first lodged in 2011, however, the Vatican took no action until 2015, after the publication of the blockbuster book Half Monks, Half Soldiers by investigative journalist Paola Ugaz and journalist Pedro Salinas, a former member of the SCV.

Even then, victims argued, papally appointed overseers in 2016, 2018 and 2019 were largely absent and ineffective, meeting with members but not with victims, while Ugaz, Salinas and other journalists reporting on SCV scandals faced continual legal harassment from the group for their reporting.

Speaking to Crux, Pedro Salinas, a former member of the SCV and author of several books revealing allegations of abuse and corruption within the group, said “The suppression of the Sodalitium took too long, but if finally arrived. And it arrived with the taste of something very similar to earthly justice.”

“I feel a deep sense of satisfaction, which is not the same as happiness, because what we are witnessing is a sad ending: the realization that an extreme measure had to be taken to feel a bit of justice,” he said.

Similarly, another former SCV member and victim, Oscar Osterling, said that after 10 years of being involved in the case against the group, and 10 years after scandals went public, “I can calmly assume that the truth has come to light, and with it some justice is coming for many.”

The truth, he said, is that “there never was a charisma, the Holy Spirit did not inspire anything at all that had to do with the founding of a religious community.”

Osterling said that to believe there was a charisma simply because there were some good fruits, such as conversion, friendship, genuine charity, and personal encounters with God, is “foolish,” because there are also “weeds” in the form of sexual, physical and psychological abuse, as well as crimes, lies, information hacking and illicit enrichment.

“Pope Francis has received a lot of information about wheat mixed with weeds, and after discerning it, he decided that there is no charisma. And if there is no charisma, the Sodalitium never should have been approved,” he said.

The SCV’s pontifical approval was “null and void,” he said, saying the process was filled with irregularities and, “as far as we know, fraudulent, and that is why it has been suppressed.”

“That is the central and most important thing, that we hope will be transformed into peace and justice for all, especially for all the victims of abuse,” he said.

Now with the definitive suppression of the SCV and each of its branches, a period of liquidation has begun in which an inventory must be made of the assets, and decisions must be taken about what to do with them, including community houses and funds, and projects belonging to or managed by members.

Members will also have to be accompanied as they determine their own, individual or collective paths forward, beginning with what some have said will be a necessary time of “detoxification” from Figari’s sectarian structure and mindset before deciding on what’s next.

Victims seeking reparation will also have to be compensated, and what they receive financially will be based largely on what is acquired from the SCV’s assets, though doubt has been cast as to how honest the group will be about their finances, given the allegations of corruption.

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Salinas voiced hope that some good will emerge from the situation, for both the victims and the members of the SCV who have “a true vocation to religious life.”

“I trust that the wise decision of Father Jorge, or Pope Francis, will be a second chance for everyone: survivors and suppressed members of the so-called Sodalit family,” he said, voicing hope that the SCV saga will serve as “a lesson for the Catholic Church.”

This story has been updated with a statement from the Christian Life Movement. 

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen