A secretive Peruvian society abused its recruits with impunity, say critics who hope the Vatican will bring victims justice

Santiago is among the dozens of reported victims who have been waiting for the Vatican to reveal its findings about the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae group.

Like many victims of sexual abuse, it took years for Santiago to acknowledge that he was raped as a teenager. “You get into a kind of mental confusion there is something that is not right, but it is not clear at that time,” Santiago, who is being identified only by a pseudonym to protect his privacy, told CNN in an exclusive interview. Four decades on, he is still waiting for a measure of justice to address his claims against Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), a secretive Roman Catholic society founded in Peru that has been mired in scandal since its layman founder Luis Fernando Figari and other senior members were accused of sexually abusing numerous adult and minor recruits. Santiago says that he was sexually abused by Figari at least three times in the 1970s, when he turned 17. He recalled Figari leading him to a room and raping him, saying it was “the only way to correctly see his aura.” He doesn’t clearly remember other incidents. “It is difficult to count because your brain starts to block things, I have tried, but there are some memories that are blocked,” he said. CNN has reached out to Figari’s legal team as well as SCV for comment. Figari has denied all the allegations against him.