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Pope Francis has expelled additional members of the lay movement Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, amid growing calls for its suppression. The expulsions follow allegations of sexual abuse, abuse of power, and financial misconduct.
A letter from the apostolic nunciature in Peru, dated October 21, confirmed that Pope Francis made this decision after evaluating findings from a Vatican investigation conducted last year. This investigation was led by Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu, officials from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
As part of these actions, Luis Fernando Figari, Sodalitium's founder, was expelled in August. On September 25, ten members were also expelled including Peruvian Archbishop José Antonio Eguren and journalist Alejandro Bermudez. Both faced accusations linked to abuse cover-ups within the group.
The nunciature stated that Pope Francis "evaluated the defenses corresponding to the allegations that emerged during the 'special mission,'" which included various forms of abuse. The statement highlighted the scandal's impact due to numerous serious abuses reported by victims.
Among those expelled on October 21 were José Andrés Ambrozic Velezmoro and Father Luis Antonio Ferroggiaro Dentone. Ferroggiaro faces separate proceedings with the Dicastery for his clerical status.
The pope also upheld Ricardo Adolfo Trenemann Young's expulsion. In response to these actions, Pope Francis expressed sorrow over events involving Sodalitium and sought forgiveness for victims while urging justice and reparation from the society.
Peruvian journalist Paola Ugaz welcomed these expulsions as a step towards justice for survivors who suffered under Sodalitium's influence. She praised figures like Pope Francis and others involved in addressing these issues.
Despite positive reactions from some victims like Ugaz, there are voices calling for more decisive action against Sodalitium itself rather than just individual expulsions. José Enrique Escardó criticized what he saw as insufficient measures by stating that those expelled should face civil prosecution.
Several bishops have echoed calls for dissolving Sodalitium entirely due to ongoing abuses and financial irregularities associated with it over time. Cardinal Barreto emphasized this point during an interview in March 2020 regarding religious organizations committing crimes warranting dissolution.
In an op-ed published shortly before recent announcements about expulsions came out; Cardinal-designate Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio condemned Sodalitium’s origins as a “political project” aimed at reviving fascism across Latin America while misusing religion destructively within Catholic Church contexts worldwide—asserting ultimately how lacking any true charism makes suppressing such movements necessary altogether now given their historical track record spanning decades past already today still ongoing presently even so yet continuing further onwards beyond current moment too unfortunately regrettably undeniably indeed alas thusly therefore henceforth consequently accordingly correspondingly respectively comparatively analogously similarly equivalently uniformly evenly consistently constantly steadily regularly habitually routinely predictably typically normally commonly generally widely broadly extensively comprehensively thoroughly fully completely absolutely totally utterly 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Junno Arocho Esteves contributed reporting from Malmö, Sweden.
