ABC News reported on Thursday that Pope Francis has issued a decision to expel 10 individuals from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru, following a Vatican investigation that uncovered "sadistic" abuses of power and spirituality.
The announcement was made by the bishops' conference in Peru, which published a statement from the Vatican embassy on its website, attributing the expulsions to a "special" decision made by Pope Francis.
This action comes against the leadership of the "Sodalitium Christianae Vitae" movement, following the pope's decision last month to expel the group's founder, Luis Figari, after it was found that he had sexual relationships with his students.
According to the report, the statement was "surprising," as it detailed the abuses revealed by the Vatican investigation—such as the breach of someone’s communications—and named individuals held responsible by the pope.
The statement indicated that Vatican investigators uncovered physical abuses "including sadism and violence," as well as spiritual and economic abuses in the management of church funds, and "violations in the practice of journalism."
Figari founded the movement in 1971 as a lay community to recruit "soldiers for Christ," and it was one of many Catholic associations that arose as a conservative response to the left-leaning liberation theology movement that swept Latin America starting in the 1960s.
At its peak, the movement had around 20,000 members across South America and the United States, but it was particularly influential in Peru.
Victims of Figari’s abuses filed numerous complaints with the Archdiocese of Lima in 2011, although other complaints against him date back to 2000.
However, no concrete action was taken until one victim, Pedro Salinas, co-wrote a book with journalist Paula Ogas in 2015, titled "Half Monks, Half Soldiers." Later, an external investigation commissioned by Sodalitium concluded that Figari was "narcissistic, obsessive, degrading, petty, vengeful, manipulative, racist, sexually biased, elitist, and obsessed with sexual issues and orientation." The investigation, published in 2017, found that Figari had sexual relationships with members of the organization and forced them to engage in sexual acts with him and each other.
The Holy See refused to expel Figari from the movement in 2017, ordering him only to live away from the Sodalitium community in Rome and to cease all communications with it, according to ABC News.
However, the results of the most recent Vatican investigation revealed that the abuses went beyond Figari and involved clergy within Sodalitium, also including harassment and the breach of their victims' communications, while the crimes committed were covered up as part of their official duties, according to the statement.