PERU
Crux
By Crux Staff
June 2, 2016
[Editor’s note: The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (“Sodality of Christian Life”) is a lay movement in the Catholic Church founded in Peru in 1971, which has since spread to several other countries, including the United States. Recently a scandal erupted around the group’s founder, Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari, featuring charges of sexual, physical and psychological abuse of members.
As the story developed, some alleged victims charged that Church authorities in Peru may have ignored or tried to conceal the charges. In this May 17, 2016, letter, the lead of the local Church court in Lima, the national capital, argues that all of the complaints against Figari were relayed quickly to the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the department in Rome that oversees religious orders and societies, and that action against Figari was urgently recommended but was slow in coming.
The following is a Crux translation of the letter, which was written in Spanish.]
Lima, May 17, 2016
Dear Archbishops and Bishops
Members of the Coetus of the Interdiocesan Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Lima
Your Excellencies:
Continued news and comments in some media relating to the complaints filed at this court against Mr. Luis Fernando Figari, founder of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, have misled the public with biased and often false stories. They imply that this court has not acted in a fair and transparent way and even claim, slanderously, that we sought to cover up the four complaints we received.
To assist your understanding of the events, I feel bound to address to you, member bishops of the coetus of the Tribunal, some facts relating to the proceeding of these cases that will help you better understand the situation.
I. History and brief description of how and when the four complaints that were received by this court were dealt with.
First complaint: On May 16, 2011, at noon the complainant came to the court (today he is identified as “Santiago”), accompanied by a relative, to present a written allegation against Mr. Luis Fernando Figari. On May 24, 2011, I sent the allegation together with my accompanying letter to the Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Second complaint: From the Archdiocese of Cologne, we received a complaint against Mr. Luis Fernando Figari dated May 24, 2011. On September 9, 2011, the complaint was sent to the Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated life and Societies of Apostolic life.
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