Pope Francis dissolves influential Peruvian Catholic group after investigation found ‘sadistic’ abuses

Pope Francis is taking the highly unusual decision to dissolve an influential Catholic group from Peru which has been plagued by allegations of abuse from within its community, including allegations related to its founder, for more than a decade.

Pope Francis is taking the highly unusual decision to dissolve an influential Catholic group from Peru which has been plagued by allegations of abuse from within its community, including allegations related to its founder, for more than a decade. News of the decision to dissolve the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, which at one point had 20,000 members across South America and parts of the United States, was confirmed in a statement by the group, although the Vatican has yet to comment or publish anything official about the move. The decision to suppress the Sodalitium was first reported by Spanish-language site Infovaticana with the Sodalitum saying the “central information” in that report was true but that “it contained several inaccuracies,” although it did not specify what these were. Figari has denied all the allegations against him. Reached for comment by CNN, his lawyer Jorge Ernesto Villa Avila emphasized that Figari maintains his innocence, and pointed out that he has not been convicted in a court of law for the allegations. A papal decision to dissolve or suppress a Catholic religious community is rare and in the Sodalitium’s case follows attempts by the church hierarchy to reform the group and a 2023 Vatican investigation which uncovered “sadistic” abuses of power, authority and spirituality. Its founder, Luis Fernando Figari, had earlier been found to allegedly committed sexual acts with recruits along with accusations of serious financial mismanagement, according to a 2017 outside investigation ordered by Sodalitium. After the Vatican probe carried out by Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, Figari was expelled from the order by the pope in August 2024 and a month later the pope expelled 10 more of its leading members. One of those expelled was found to have carried out “abuse in the exercise of the apostolate of journalism,” an unusual charge.