Luis Fernando Figari
Luis Fernando Figari Rodrigo (born 8 July 1947) is a Peruvian Catholic layman, the founder and former superior general of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV). He also founded the Christian Life Movement and several other religious associations. He has been the object of allegations of physical, psychological and sexual abuse of young men, some of whom were minors. On 30 January 2017, following an investigation of these claims, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life ordered that Figari be "prohibited from contacting, in any way, persons belonging to the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, and  no way have any direct personal contact with them." He was formally expelled from the SCV in 2019. Biography. Luis Fernando Figari was born in Lima, Peru, on 8 July 1947. His parents were Alberto (1902–1990) and Blanca Figari (1909–1995), both Peruvian. He was born in a Catholic family, the last of four children. He studied at the Immaculate Heart of Mary School until he was 10 years old and then at Holy Mary High School at Lima. He studied humanities and law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and then law at the National University of San Marcos  in Lima. During this time, he became a leader of the National Confederation of Youth, the youth branch of the Odriíst National Union, the political movement of former president Manuel A. Odría. When he was 19, he was elected to represent the university students from Lima in giving a welcoming speech to US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy during his visit to Peru. He began studying theology in the Pontifical and Civil School of Theology of Lima, where he also taught in 1975. He founded the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae in 1971. He called that moment "baptism of a search". Cardinal  Juan Landazuri, Archbishop of Lima, began meeting with Figari in 1972 to monitor the development of the Sodalitium and express support. In 1974, Figari founded the Immaculate Mary Association for women. In 1984, Figari participated in the first World Youth Day in Rome. In 1985, he founded the Christian Life Movement (CLM), an ecclesial movement. In 1991, he founded the Marian Community of Reconciliation, a religious association for lay consecrated women. In 1994, CLM was recognized by the Holy See as an international lay association of faithful of pontifical right. In 1995, he founded the Confraternity of Our Lady of  Reconciliation. In 1997, Pope John Paul II approved Sodalitium as a society of apostolic life. In 1998, Figari founded another religious association for consecrated women, the Servants of the Plan of God. In 2002, Pope John Paul named Figari as consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Laity. In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI named Figari an auditor for the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist, one of the few lay participants invited to that assembly. On 3 June 2006, Figari addressed the closing words to Pope Benedict XVI in the Encounter of the Ecclesial Movements and New Communities with the  Pope at the Vigil of Pentecost in St. Peter's Square. On 21 December 2010, Figari resigned from his role as Superior General of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, citing health reasons. Allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Some groups are opposed to the Sodalitium, which has generated suspicion and alarm; it is seen by some as a conservative, elitist sect with an authoritarian and fundamentalist structure. In 2003, after parents accused the Sodalitium of brainwashing their son and separating him from them, the movement opened its doors to the press for the first time. Young members were reported as laughing  at talk of brainwashing and said that they had been evangelised, not captured, as teenagers. Pedro Salinas, a former member, said at the time that during his membership in the SCV in the 1980s he was subject to absurd orders. He said that he assumed that "now the Sodalicios have learned from their mistakes and have evolved", but that when he was a member of the movement they had "sectarian characteristics". In a 2015 book, Salinas reported abuse and mistreatment, including sexual abuse, on the part of Figari. After responded briefly at first, Alessandro Moroni Llabrés, the community's current  superior general, said that it was "a cause for deep grief and shame if such acts could have been committed by Luis Fernando Figari ... We condemn the incidents that may have occurred, especially the sexual abuse". Moroni said that the testimonies Salinas reported were plausible and needed to be thoroughly clarified, and that former members of the Movement had reported abuse. Church authorities were investigating. Allegations submitted to ecclesial tribunals were not accessible because the tribunals withheld the information in order to issue an independent legal opinion. Figari denied all accusations, but made no public statement, "as would be his  moral obligation". The SCJ asked for forgiveness, and said they offered victims help. They formed a committee of members and non-SCJ experts to meet with any person affected and said they were committed to investigating and clarifying the truth about "the incidents, which are intolerable, because they involve grave suffering for persons who trusted our community, and they betray our deepest values". They said they were available to cooperate with civil and ecclesial authorities. There were thirty allegations of abuse by Figari and his closest associates, including Daniel Murguía and Germán Doig. Salinas's book also detailed Figari's  involvement in his youth with right-wing Catholic, extreme right-wing, and falangist groups. Vatican review. In April 2015, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life appointed Bishop Fortunato Urcey, Prelate of Chota, as apostolic visitor tasked with investigating charges of "improper behavior" on the part of Figari. Urcey's work in Peru was scheduled to last from August 2015 to March 2016. In May 2016, Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin of Indianapolis was named to oversee the reform of Sodalit. On 30 January 2017, as a result of Urcey's investigation, the Congregation decreed that  Figari should have no further contact with members of the Sodalit community. Urcey had reported that while Figari was Superior General he had "adopted a style of government excessively or improperly authoritarian, directed to impose one's own will," and that "in order to obtain the obedience of his brothers [he] used improper strategies and methods of persuasion, that is to say, underhanded, arrogant and nonetheless violent and disrespectful of the right to the inviolability of one's own interiority and discretion". In February 2017, the institute's superior general turned over to Peru's Office of the Public Prosecutor  information identified in a recent report regarding the sexual abuse of minors by its founder and by four of its former members. In January 2017, the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life prohibited Figari from having any contact with other members of the society. Figari filed appeals twice. With the rejection of both appeals, in February 2019 Superior General of the SCV, José David Correa, formally expelled Figari from the group's community life, and contact with any members. Publications. Figari has published many articles and books on such subjects as Christian spirituality, the  Virgin Mary, the Eucharist, Catholic social teachings, the Catholic view of family, human rights and evangelization of culture. He has strongly backed the ideal of reconciliation, as well as the organization of congresses on several occasions on the issue of reconciliation. Organisations. According to one study: