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In response to the publications and reports on abuses committed by members and former members of Sodalitium in October 2015, the Sodalitium government took the first step of creating a Commission to offer a neutral and trustworthy environment for victims to come forward and share their testimonies. This Commission was made up of independent people with extensive experience and public recognition in the ecclesiastical, legal, mental health and journalistic fields in Peru.
In November 2015, the Commission was created and called the Ethics Commission for Justice and Reconciliation. Its members were:
The Commission was initially set up to work for 90 days, but its work was later extended to 150 days. Commission members listened to victims who decided to give testimony, although they did not call the accused or other witnesses involved in the complaints they received.
On April 30th, 2016, the Ethics Commission for Justice and Reconciliation submitted 32 individual reports to the Superior General of the Sodalitium on victims who suffered physical, psychological and/or sexual abuse. It also published a Final Report offering various recommendations for actions to be taken for each person that the Commission had identified as a victim and for the Sodalitium as an institution.
Below we detail the actions taken by the Sodalitium with respect to compliance with the recommendations of the Ethics Commission for Justice and Reconciliation:
Below we detail the actions taken by the Sodalitium with respect to compliance with the recommendations of the Ethics Commission for Justice and Reconciliation:
“ Public repudiation of the conduct of Luis Fernando Figari, regarding whom the corresponding authorities should adopt the highest moral and institutional sanction. ”
On April 5th, 2016, Alessandro Moroni, Superior General of the Sodalitium, announced in a public message that Mr. Figari was considered morally guilty of the abuses reported against him and was considered a “persona non grata” for the Sodalitium . He also stated in interviews with the press that he deplored his conduct .
Subsequently, during the V General Assembly of the Sodalitium in February 2019, all the participants of the Assembly published a Message of Forgiveness and Reconciliation in which it was declared that Figari was no longer a spiritual reference, and the physical, psychological and sexual abuse committed by him were condemned.
“ The victims of abuse must be compensated. Their testimonies reveal the urgent need for medical, psychological and spiritual care, in addition to the financial compensation to which they are justly entitled and which must be considered by the SCV (Sodalitium Christianae Vitae) with each victim in an authentic process of reconciliation and justice. This must include a request for forgiveness and reparation, in a personal and written manner, by the Superior General to each of the victims .”
The Sodalitium began a reparation process with each of them in accordance with the indications and suggestions of international experts. Three ways of providing reparations were established: academic support, therapeutic support and economic compensation.
“ Compensation for personal injuries suffered by those who were deprived of adequate vocational discernment, and to that extent forced to provide unpaid services, even in a condition of “servitude” .”
In May 2016, the Sodalitium created the Office of Listening and Assistance as an official and permanent body to receive complaints of any type of abuse committed by members or former members of the Sodalitium. Through this body, and assessing each case individually according to the indications given by international experts, reparation processes have been concluded in 22 cases of the 32 that the Ethics Commission reported to the Superior General.
“ The SCV (Sodalitium Christianae Vitae) must proceed to the immediate return of all documentation corresponding to each of the persons who form or formed part of the institution, who so requests .”
The Sodalitium has returned the personal documentation found in the General Archive to all members and former members of the Sodalitium who have requested it.
“ Recognition of the status of victims by the Commission through the respective individual reports .”
The Ethics Commission for Justice and Reconciliation recognized the status of victim in each of the 32 individual reports it submitted to the Superior General of the Sodalitium in April 2016.
” The Holy See, in the urgency of the case, should adopt drastic measures for the prompt intervention of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, arranging for its management to be in the hands of persons outside its current organizational structure .”
The Holy See has been taking various actions since 2015 to clarify what happened, impose measures and closely accompany the Sodalitium government in its renewal process:
“ People who held any position within the SCV (Sodalitium Christianae Vitae) organization during the years in which the reported abuses were permitted must be prevented from holding any representative position within the organization .”
No member who was part of the General Government until December 2017 has been appointed as a member of the Superior Council or as Major Superior since 2018 to date.
“ For this purpose, and in order to fulfill the objective of this work, the Commission will forward this report and others that accompany it to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life of the Holy See .”
The Commission complied by submitting its report to the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
“ After having received the testimonies of the victims, this Commission believes in conscience that the Holy See should urgently take the necessary measures so that Luis Fernando Figari is effectively punished for the acts reported, within the powers of ecclesiastical justice .”
In February 2017, the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life addressed a letter to the Superior General asking him to take action regarding the abuses committed by Luis Fernando Figari. The measures taken were:
These measures were appealed by Luis Fernando Figari to the Apostolic Signatura on two occasions, the first was rejected on January 31st, 2018 and the second on October 2nd, 2018, and finally these measures were imposed on him in February 2019.
On August 14th, 2024, through a statement, the Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP) announced the Decree of expulsion of Luis Fernando Figari from the Sodalitium of Christian Life , issued by the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (DIVCSVA), by express delegation of the Holy Father. This expulsion takes place within the framework of the work of the Special Mission.
Here we detail all the actions carried out by the Sodalitium and the Holy See regarding Luis Fernando Figari .
“ Publication of this report on the Commission’s website and on the Sodalicio website .”
The Ethics Commission’s report was published in April 2016 on the Commission’s website. After the Commission’s functions ended, the Sodalitium has been responsible for keeping it published on the Ethics Commission’s website to date, along with all the information on the activities carried out. The Final Report of the Ethics Commission was also published on the Sodalitium’s website.
“ The delivery of this Report to the SCV (Sodalitium Christianae Vitae), to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life of the Holy See through the diplomatic channel of the Apostolic Nunciature and to Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru .”
The report was submitted to the appropriate ecclesiastical authorities. In April 2016, Alessandro Moroni, Superior General of the Sodalitium, submitted the Commission’s final report to the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.