Luis Fernando Figari, accused founder of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Catholic movement based in Peru The Vatican has named a Colombian bishop to be the trustee of the scandal-plagued Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Catholic movement based in Peru.
The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life appointed Bishop Noel Londono Buitrago of Jerico, Colombia, trustee of the group, the Vatican press office announced.
Pope Francis, the statement said: “has followed with concern all the information that for years has arrived at the congregation” about the movement founded by Luis Fernando Figari. In 2017, Sodalitium leaders released a report acknowledging that Figari sexually, physically and psychologically abused minors, teen and young adult members of the movement.
Pope Francis “insistently requested” the congregation to act, the statement said, adding that he had been “particularly attentive to the gravity of the information regarding the (movement’s) internal regime, the formation” process members went through and the financial operations of the group.
Concerns
Those concerns, along with a Peruvian court’s request that Figari be jailed pending a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual and psychological abuse, led to the congregation’s decision to name a trustee to assume control of the movement, the statement said. Figari apparently is living in Rome; in the first weeks of 2017, the Vatican informed Sodalitium leaders that Figari had been ordered to remain in Rome and not have any contact with the organisation or give interviews to the media.
The Vatican also said Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, will continue to be the Vatican’s delegate in its relationship with the Sodalitium, particularly regarding economic questions.
The cardinal was named delegate in 2016 after a report drafted by an internal Sodalitium ethics commission painted Figaro as an abusive dictator who controlled and manipulated teens and young adults, enjoying a life of “personal privilege” while forcing rigorous austerity on others.