The Vatican has appointed a Colombian bishop to assume control of a Peruvian group whose founder is alleged to have abused members.
The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), which started in Lima in 1971, said last year that Luis Fernando Figari, its founder, carried out sexual, physical and psychological abuse of its members, both children and adults.
A Vatican statement said Pope Francis had followed the controversy with concern and was “particularly attentive to the gravity of the information regarding the [movement’s] internal regime, the formation” that members went through and the financial operations of the group.
The statement, from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, said Bishop Noel Londoño Buitrago of Jericho would assume control of the group.
It said the move was partly provoked by a Peruvian court requesting that Figari be jailed on remand pending a criminal investigation into the allegations. Figari is currently living in Rome, having been barred from contact with the society’s members.
The appointment came days before Pope Francis’s visit to Peru.
The Pope had previously appointed Cardinal Joseph Tobin as papal delegate to the society. The Vatican said he would continue to be Rome’s point of contact with the group.
A report made public by the Sodalitium’s new leadership last year alleged that Figari had “sexually abused at least one minor male, sexually abused or sexually manipulated several other young men, and physically or psychologically abused dozens of others, including those he sexually abused”. It said he “used his leadership status to have authoritarian direction and control” of the communities.
Physical abuse was used as a way to discipline members, the report claimed. Those in formation could be denied food and water, made to sleep in stairwells, or forced to stay awake all night.
Several members alleged that Figari appeared to enjoy other people’s pain, burning an individual with a candle or menacing members with his dog, which bit people several times.
The Sodalitium acquired pontifical approval as a Society of Apostolic Life in 1997. It has members in Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Italy and the United States.
Let’s consider blessing gay couples, says German bishop
The vice president of the German bishops’ conference has called for a debate on whether priests should bless same-sex unions.
“I’m concerned with fundamental questions of how we deal with each other. Although ‘marriage for all’ differs clearly from the Church’s concept of marriage, it’s now a political reality,” said Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabruck.
“We have to ask ourselves how we’re encountering those who form such relationships and are also involved in the Church, how we’re accompanying them pastorally and liturgically.”
The first gay weddings were conducted in Germany last year after its parliament voted to allow same-sex marriage.
“Same-sex relationships are generally classified as a grave sin in the Church, but we need to think how we can differentiate,” Bishop Bode told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung daily.
“Shouldn’t we be fairer, given that there is much that’s positive, good and right in this? Should we not, for example, consider a blessing – something not to be confused with a wedding ceremony?”
He said the Church should discuss same-sex unions in more detail. “Silence and taboo” settled nothing, he said.
Bomb lands on archbishop’s bed
The Maronite Archbishop of Damascus escaped death by a matter of seconds after a bomb crashed into his bed while he was preparing for a nap.
Archbishop Samir Nassar said he was in the bathroom when the shell hit, adding that his bed was now “riddled with shrapnel”. In an email to supporters, he said his priests cried with joy when they saw him emerge from the rubble. He added that he is now “exiled like 12 million Syrian refugees” as he has been left homeless.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.