PERU
Catholic Review
October 28, 2015
By Barbara J. Fraser
Catholic News Service
LIMA, Peru – Allegations of physical, psychological and sexual abuse by leaders of a Catholic movement founded here in the 1970s have led to a lawsuit against Lima Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani and a promise of an internal investigation from the group’s leader.
The allegations were described in a new book, “Mitad Monjes, Mitad Soldados” (“Half Monks, Half Soldiers”), by Pedro Salinas, a former member of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, who interviewed about 30 other former members.
The interviewees, some of whom were minors when they joined the group and moved into one of its formation houses, recalled military-style physical exercise and separation from family and friends. Some said spiritual directors had ordered them to disrobe and then touched them, and there were several accounts of rape. One of those accused is the organization’s founder, Luis Fernando Figari.
Figari resigned as head of Sodalitium in late 2010, after the organization withdrew its proposal for the beatification of its deceased former vicar general, German Doig, in the wake of sex abuse allegations.
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