Pope expels 10 members, including bishop, from Peru-based Catholic movement

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Following an investigation into an influential Peru-based Catholic movement that has expanded across Latin America and the United States, Pope Francis has expelled 10 members from its ranks for physical and spiritual abuse.

The group, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, which operates in seven Latin American countries and has communities in the archdioceses of Denver and Philadelphia, was subject to a Vatican investigation in 2023 for alleged abuses.

In a letter from the apostolic nunciature in Peru posted on the Peruvian bishops' conference website Sept. 25, the Vatican announced the expulsion of the 10 members, including the former superior general, a retired archbishop and three other priests.

The 68-year-old Peruvian Archbishop José Antonio Eguren of Piura, the highest-ranking expelled member, resigned from leading his archdiocese in April, eight years shy of the mandatory retirement age for bishops, amid an investigation into Sodalitium.

The forms of abuse listed in the Vatican letter include: physical abuse "including sadism and violence," deploying tactics to "break the will of subordinates," spiritual abuse, abuse of authority including the cover-up of crimes and abuse in the administration of church goods.

"Abuse in the exercise of the apostolate of journalism" was also cited as a form of abuse committed; the list of those expelled included Peruvian journalist Alejandro Bermudez, founder and former executive director of Catholic News Agency, which is now owned by EWTN.

Several of the expelled members are currently living in the Archdiocese of Denver, including Father Daniel Cardó, pastor of Holy Name Parish in Sheridan, Eduardo Antonio Regal, former superior general of the society, and Bermudez. In a statement Sept. 25, the archdiocese said it was "shocked and saddened by the news" of the expulsions and said this "news is inconsistent with our longstanding experience of the men who have served within the Archdiocese of Denver."

The listed abuses specified that instances of hacking the communications of victims and workplace harassment took place as well.

The decision to expel the members was made considering "the scandal produced by the number and gravity of the abuses reported by victims," the letter said.

Pope Francis' decision comes after Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu, officials of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, traveled to Peru on a "special mission" in July 2023 to meet with victims and leaders of Sodalitium, as well as with journalists who investigated the organization.

In August, the founder of the movement, Luis Fernando Figari, was formally expelled from Sodalitium by the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in a letter signed by Pope Francis. Sodalitium Christianae Vitae was founded by Figari in 1971 and was granted pontifical recognition in 1997.

After a 2017 internal investigation, Sodalitium said that 66 people had been abused by its members, and the group barred Figari from contacting any Sodalitium members.

"Pope Francis together with the bishops of Peru and those places where the Sodalitium of Christian Life is present, saddened by what has occurred, ask forgiveness of the victims and join in their suffering," the nunciature's letter said. "Likewise, they pray that this Society of Apostolic Life may begin a journey of justice and reparation."