Vatican expels founder of Peru’s Sodalitium religious movement

By Salvatore Cernuzio

Luis Fernando Figari, founder of the Peruvian apostolic society Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SVC), more commonly known as Sodalicio, ends with a measure by the Holy See, expelling him from the movement he himself created. 

The movement had previously been placed under supervision due to cases of abuse and financial mismanagement by its leaders. Figari, in particular, is accused of physical, psychological, and sexual violence, including against minors.

The Bishops' Conference of Peru made public the decree that had been issued by the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which, under Canon 746 of the Code of Canon Law, effectively expelled Figari from the organization that was founded in the 1970s and became widespread in Latin America through these communities.

These communities were often called “sodalites,” which were composed of laypeople and consecrated priests living together under perpetual vows of celibacy and obedience.

For years, Sodalicio represented one of the most active forces in evangelization in South America.

The accusations

The first accusations of abuse emerged in the early 2000s, following complaints from former members and investigations conducted by the media.

The case then exploded in 2015 with the publication of a book that collected the testimonies of the victims and detailed physical, psychological, and sexual abuse carried out by the movement's leaders and by Figari himself.

Ban on returning to Peru

In 2018, the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office had requested the preventive detention of several members and former members of the organization, including Figari.

Sodalicio itself had established an investigative group that, through a report, identified the perpetrators of these crimes—who were then removed from the movement—committed between 1975 and 2002 against about 36 people, including 19 minors.

That same year, a Vatican measure prohibited Figari from returning to his country “except for very serious reasons and always with written permission” from the commissioner appointed after the crisis, Colombian Bishop Noel Antonio Londoño Buitrago, prelate of Jericó (Antioquia), who had worked alongside U.S. Cardinal Joseph William Tobin, appointed in 2016 as “papal delegate” to lead the governance of this ecclesial reality and later remained as “referent,” particularly for financial matters.

The ban on Figari’s return to Peru was motivated by the fear that he might “cause further harm to people,” “hide and destroy evidence against him,” or “obstruct the course of ecclesiastical and civil justice.”

This was explained in a letter signed by Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, Prefect of Consecrated Life, published in June 2018 in response to accusations from local media that the Vatican had somehow “protected” Figari.

Papal Envoys

In July 2023, Pope Francis sent two special investigators to the Andean country to “investigate, listen, and report” on the case of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.

These were the same two experts who had carried out similar work a few years earlier in Chile, which had been deeply shaken by past and present abuse scandals, namely the Archbishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna, and the Spanish priest, Fr Jordi Bertomeu, both members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.