The Sodalicio of Christian life reported that Mons. Jordi Bertomeu Farnós, Officer of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF), will be the one who carries out the process of dissolution of this Apostolic Life Society.
In a February 1st statementthe sodalicio of Christian life (SCV) indicates that Pope Francis appointed Mons. Bertomeu Apostolic Commissioner to fulfill the dissolution process “that will begin in the following days.”
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The Spanish priest integrated with Mons. Charles Scicluna, deputy secretary of the DDF, the special mission that the Pontiff sent in July 2023 to Peru to investigate the accusations against members of the sodalicio for sexual abuse and power.
As a consequence of his report, the Pope ordered in August 2024 the expulsion of the founder of the Sodalicio, Luis Fernando Figari, whom the Vatican sanctioned in 2017 for sexual abuse. In September and October the Holy See announced the separation of 14 other members, without explaining in some cases the reasons why they were sanctioned.
On January 31, 2025, at the end of its VI General Assembly that it celebrated in Brazil, the SCV reported that The Pontiff decided to dissolve The Apostolic Life Society.
The Vatican decree that indicates the causes for the dissolution of the sodalicio is not yet known. According to Infovaticanathe document “refers to the immorality of the founder, Luis Fernando Figari, as an indication of the absence of a founding charism, and therefore, the lack of ecclesial legitimacy for the permanence of the institution.”
In its February 1 statement, the SCV expresses its “adherence to the decisions of the Holy Father” and ensures that “in the best possible way in this process.”
Likewise, “it is demarcated by any publication and/or public demonstration that goes against the Holy Father or the delegates appointed by the Holy See.”
Mons. Bertomeu is located these days in Lima and celebrated on Sunday 2 a mass in the parish Our Lady of Reconciliation, which has been administered by the Sodalicio since 1989.
In his initial words, the priest reported that the suppression process is for “everything that Figari founded”, which includes the Christian life movement, the servants of God’s plan and the Marian fraternity of reconciliation.
According to Mons. Bertomeu, Pope Francis told him that after a long discernment he concluded that “there was no initial charism” and that Figari “did not receive a special grace.”
Eduardo Berdejo
Professional in Social Communication of the National University of San Marcos in Peru, I have more than 20 years of experience in Catholic digital journalism. As part of ACI Press, I have been sent to cover the trips of Pope Francis to Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, in addition to the Synod of Sinodality in the Vatican in 2023.