Sodalitium Christianae Vitae
Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), or Sodalitium of Christian Life is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right, according to the Code of Canon Law which governs the Latin Rite branch of the Catholic Church. It was founded in Lima, Peru, by Luis Fernando Figari on 8 December 1971. It acquired its present canonical form when Pope John Paul II gave his Pontifical approval on 8 July 1997. The Sodalitium was the first male religious society in Peru to receive papal approval. By 1997 there were Sodalit communities in several countries. The Sodalitium is composed of consecrated  laymen and priests, called "Sodalits," who live in community as brothers and make commitments—not religious vows as such—of celibacy and obedience. Being recognised as a lay society of apostolic life of pontifical right, the Sodalitium is under the authority of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life of the Holy See. This is the first lay society of apostolic life to be recognised with Pontifical approval. There have been accusations of brainwashing of young people, and of elitism, conservatism, and authoritarianism; and accusations, supported by a report commissioned by the SCV, of sexual  abuse by founder Luis Fernando Figari and other Sodalites. There have also been allegations about Figari's right-wing and phalangist activism in his youth. In 2020 Peruvian Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo said that the Vatican had been asked to dissolve the Sodalitium, and stated his belief that Sodalitium Christianae Vitae and any other religious movement mired in sexual abuse should be dissolved. Description. The Sodalitium of Christian Life was started in Peru in 1971. It is a society of apostolic life made up of lay people and priests. A society of apostolic life is a group of  men or women within the Catholic Church who have come together to live for a specific mission. Their members do not take religious vows, but instead make promises defined in the Code of Canon Law (731-755). Societies of Apostolic Life were introduced by the Church as a response to contemporary culture in 1965 by the decree of the Second Vatican Council, "Apostolicam Actuositatem", the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity". While societies of apostolic life are considered a new organisational type in the Church, the idea has roots that can be traced back to the 16th and 17th  centuries with the foundations started by Philip Neri, Charles Borromeo, Pierre de Bérulle, Vincent de Paul, Louise de Marillac, Jean-Jacques Olier, and others. Members of these societies are fully dedicated to the apostolate and life in a fraternal community, with a formal commitment to order their lives to the work of evangelization. The Sodalitium says there are many different areas of evangelization, three "apostolic accents" are of particular importance: Christian solidarity with those who are in need and marginalized, the evangelisation of youth, and of culture. The promotion of the family and defending the life and dignity of humans  are other important areas, as well as education are considered means to achieve the vocation regarding culture. History. Beginnings. The Sodalitium of Christian Life was founded by Luis Fernando Figari on 8 December 1971. The group was formally consolidated during a ceremonial Mass in Lima, Peru. In 1972, Germán Schmitz, Auxiliary Bishop of Lima, encouraged Sodalitium to develop in the Archdiocese of Lima. Later that same year, the Bishop of the Diocese of Huaraz, Peru, Fernando Vargas Ruiz de Somocurcio, promulgated a "Decree of Praise" that invited the members of Sodalitium to carry out apostolic missions in that diocese. The  Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru, Cardinal Juan Landázuri Ricketts, OFM, encouraged the Sodalitium and in 1977 approved their statutes as a private association of the faithful. It was the first step in the ecclesiastical-jurdical process that led the Sodalitium to its current form. Association of the Faithful. Together with the first experiences of community life in Lima which began in 1978, the first guidelines were drafted for the fraternal life in common. These brought together different aspects from the Church's tradition of religious communities. In a house in the district of Jesus Maria, small groups of  Sodalits began an experiment of fraternal life in common. In 1980, a project which sought to care for sick children also emerged at the Children's Hospital in Lima. In 1981, the first priest of the Sodalitium, Fr. Jaime Baertl Gomez, was ordained by the Archbishop of Arequipa, Fernando Vargas Ruiz de Somocurcio, SJ. In early 1984 the Formation Centre, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, was inaugurated just south of Lima, in the coastal town of San Bartolo, to serve for the first years of initial formation. Also in 1984, Archbishop Fernando Vargas Ruiz de Somocurcio, SJ, invited the  Sodalitium to found a community in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa, the first such community outside of Lima. The same year Figari was invited to the give his "Catechesis on Love", at the first World Youth Day in Rome. In January 1985 the First International Conference on Reconciliation was organised in the city of Arequipa in order to reflect on Pope John Paul II's Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Reconciliatio et Paenitentia". In the same year the Christian Life Movement was formed. The Life and Spirituality (Vida y Espiritualidad) association also arose, and began publishing a journal, entitled the  Revista VE. At the request of the parents, the Sodalitium assumed the administration of the Santa Maria school in the city of Chincha, to the South of Lima in 1985. In 1986, the Sodalitium founded its first community outside Peru at the invitation of Cardinal Eugenio de Araújo Sales, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, assuming responsibility for the Our Lady of Guidance (Nossa Senhora da Guia) parish. In June 1987 in Lima, the first pastoral centre St. Mary of the Evangelisation was opened by the Sodalitium. In Arequipa the Southern Institute (Insituto del Sur) was founded, offering courses for  technical careers from a perspective of integral human formation. With the publication of the new Code of Canon Law in 1983, the Sodalitium sought a clarification of its canonical status. After several consultations with the Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Juan Landázuri Ricketts, the statutes were amended in 1986. The group remained a private association of the faithful, but with the structure of a Society of Apostolic Life (institutions dedicated to the apostolate, living communally according to their own constitutions). The new statutes were approved in 1989 and the Sodalitium of Christian Life was canonically erected in the Archdiocese of Lima . Society of Apostolic Life by diocesan right. The Bishop of Callao, Ricardo Durand Flórez, SJ, invited the Sodalitium to found a community in Lima's neighboring diocese. At the request of the Archbishop of Medellín, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, the Sodalitium arrived in Colombia and assumed responsibility for a parish in 1990. Later that year a second community was founded in Brazil in the city of Petrópolis, where Sodalits began helping in youth apostolate in universities, high school education and other solidarity efforts. 25 March 1991, Figari founded the Marian Community of Reconciliation, an association of women consecrated for apostolic  service, who live in community. In 1992 the Sodalitium founded a community in the Diocese of Santo Amaro, in the city of São Paulo in Brazil. The following year the Christian Life Movement arrived in San José, Costa Rica. On 22 February 1994, after obtaining the official permission from the Holy See, the Sodalitium was erected as a Society of Apostolic Life of Diocesan Right by the Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Augusto Vargas Alzamora, SJ. Shortly after the Christian Life Movement was approved as an International Private Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right on 23 March. In December the  Sodalitium held its First Ordinary General Assembly, in which the Guidelines for Fraternal Life ("Pautas para la vida fraterna") were presented. In Lima in 1995 the Mother of the Faith and the Our Lady of the Sea communities were inaugurated. The Fifth International Congress on Reconciliation was also organised. Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right. On 8 July 1997, Pope John Paul II approved the Sodalitium of Christian Life as a lay Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right, under the supervision of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. A few months later  the Sodalit community Our Lady of the Evangelization (Nossa Signora della Evangelizazione) was established in Rome. Near the end of the year the St. Paul Catholic University was founded in Arequipa. The Sodalitium promoted the participation of the Christian Life Movement in the Encounter of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, convened by Pope John Paul II during the feast of Pentecost in May 1998. Several members of the Sodalit Family were invited to participate in the World Congress of Ecclesial Movements which took place at that time. On 15 August 1998, Figari founded the Servants of the Plan of God , a group of women consecrated to God; they live in community and evangelise and promote solidarity. In January 1999, the Sodalitium erected the Our Lady of Carmen (Nuestra Señora del Carmen) community in Santiago, Chile. That same year during the First Plenary Assembly of the CLM in Rome, on 6 December, Pope John Paul II spoke to members of the Christian Life Movement and the Sodalitium of Christian Life and invited them to be "artisans of reconciliation in today's world." The Second Ordinary General Assembly of the Sodalitium of Christian Life was held in the city of Lima in  December 2000, in which the founder of the Sodalitium was again elected as superior general. in 2001 the Holy See approved the incardination of Sodalit priests to the Sodalitium, which concluded the juridical process as a society of apostolic life. In 2002 the Immaculate Heart of Mary community was established in Guayaquil, Ecuador. On 7 April, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani ordained Jose Antonio Eguren a bishop, and appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Lima until July 2006. In an Audience at Castelgandolfo in 2002 Pope John Paul II gave Figari a letter of encouragement and praise. Accepting the invitation of the  then Archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, OFM, to administer the Saint Malo's Retreat Center, the Sodalitium founded a community in Colorado, USA in 2003. In 2004 the Sodalitium was invited to Buenos Aires, Argentina, by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, the archbishop of Buenos Aires and later Pope Francis. The following year the Our Lady of Chiquinquirá community in Bogotá, Colombia was founded; as well as the Our Lady of the Angels community in San José, Costa Rica. In 2006 Kay Martin Schmalhausen Panizo was named bishop of Ayaviri. Months later Archbishop Jose Antonio Eguren was appointed Archbishop of  Piura. To accompany the pastoral bishops the Sodalitium founded communities in Piura and Ayaviri the following year. The Third Ordinary General Assembly of the Sodalitium of Christian Life was held in December 2006, in which the founder of the Sodalitium was again chosen as superior general. In Santiago, Chile a second Sodalit community was established in 2007, under the name of Mother of the Apostles. In 2009 the Our Lady of the Lake Formation Center was founded in the town of Nemi, near Rome, and was conceived as a home for Sodalits who would study in Roman universities. After the  Fifth General Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops in Aparecida, Brazil which was held in 2007, the Sodalitium founded in 2010 the St. Mary of the New Evangelization community in this Marian sanctuary in Brazil. In December 2010 Fernando Figari resigned and an Extraordinary General Assembly was convened for the election of his successor. This concluded the phase in which the community was governed by its founder. From 2011. At the Extraordinary General Assembly in January 2011 Eduardo Regal Villa, who since 2001 had been Vicar General and General Coordinator of the Christian Life Movement, was elected Superior General . In December 2012, at the Fourth Ordinary General Assembly Sodalit delegates for the assembly elected Alessandro Moroni Llabrés, a Peruvian, who had been superior in Santiago, Chile since 1999. In 2015 Pedro Salinas, a former member, published a book, "Mitad Monjes, Mitad Soldados" ("Half Monks, Half Soldiers") which reported abuse and mistreatment, including sexual abuse, by Luis Fernando Figari. The movement first published a response which was later considered insufficient, then 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". They said that the testimonies in the book were plausible and needed to be thoroughly clarified, and that former members of the Movement had reported abuse. Ecclesial authorities were investigating. The SCJ created a committee of members and non-SCJ experts to meet with any person affected, and said they were committed to thoroughly 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 Fernando Figari and his closest associates, including Daniel Murguía and Germán Doig. Salinas's book also details Fernando Figari's involvement in his youth with extreme right-wing, and phalangist groups. In February 2017 the institute's superior general turned over to Peru's Office of the Public Prosecutor information identified in the committee's recent report regarding the sexual abuse of minors by its founder and by four of its former members. Vatican oversight. 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. His work in Peru was scheduled to last from August 2015 to March 2016. In May 2016, Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin of Indianapolis (later Cardinal Archbishop of Newark) 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 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; both were rejected. In January 2018, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic  Life appointed Redemptorist Bishop Noel Antonio Londoño of Jericó, Colombia as Apostolic Commissary to oversee the SCV. Governance. The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae is ruled by the Constitutions approved by the Holy See. The Constitutions establish the structure and the way the Sodalitium is governed. This structure is quite similar to other societies of consecrated life approved by the Holy See. For administrative reasons the Peru Region, was erected in 1996, which at the time consisted of communities in the jurisdictions of Lima, Callao, Chosica, Lurin and Arequipa. The following year the Brazil Region was erected, with communities in Rio de  Janeiro, Santo Amaro (in São Paulo) and Petrópolis. At the beginning of 2001, the Colombia Region was created, comprising the jurisdictions of Medellín, Cali and Bogotá. Apostolic work. The members of the Sodalitium participate in the evangelizing mission of the Church, seeking to influence particularly young and poor people. Other areas of apostolate are carried out, especially regarding the family, the defence of life and education. The SCV is concerned with what they call "solidarity with the poor", which includes apostolic work around the world to meet this concern. Parishes. Parishes have been entrusted to the Sodalitium in the archdiocese  of Lima, Peru; the diocese of Chosica, Peru; and the archdiocese of Medellin, Colombia; the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; A group of brothers work at St. Agatha-St. James Parish in Philadelphia, United States. Solidarity on the March and charitable work. Solidaridad en Marcha (Solidarity on the March) is a social programme and charity branch of the SCV. Its stated goals are human development and poverty eradication. Through third-party support, Solidaridad en Marcha runs social projects in health care, education, and community development. Their work also includes urban infrastructure development, the construction of water systems, transportation systems , community kitchens, parks and playgrounds, schools, day-care and community centres, chapels, and medical clinics. They also conduct a number of campaigns throughout the year that focus on assisting the poor and evangelisation. Apostolate with youth. Apostolic work with young people takes place in different areas, such as in universities, schools, youth organisations and groups of formation, especially in the Christian Life Movement, offering conferences, missions, talks, courses, spiritual accompaniment, and retreats. Sodalits seek to evangelise the new generations of young people into their faith, especially on World Youth Days. Since 1977, the Sodalitium and the Christian Life Movement have  sponsored an International Youth Congress called "Convivio", for Catholic youth who come to it from around the world for a weekend. In 2010, Convivio Congresses were held in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, England, Peru, Angola, the Philippines and the United States, in a total of 16 cities. Tens of thousands of young people attended these Congresses. Since 2014, "brothers" from SCV have headed the Newman Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Evangelization of culture. "Culture" is understood by the Sodalitium as the sphere in which human beings are educated and come to know themselves, in which values  are formed, in which truth, goodness, and beauty are recognised and appreciated. It is a fundamental area of apostolate for the Sodalitium. The Sodalitium's stated aims include investigating and developing thought and reflection to improve people's cultural conditions. Some members of the Sodalitium and its spiritual family carry out development, research and teaching at various levels, in many different areas of culture and the professional world. Family and defence of life. According to Figari the Sodalitium emphasise the family, and considers marriage as a way of holiness and the first line of evangelization, and as teacher of the  faith, as well as respect for personal liberty and life. The Sodalit Family. The Sodalitium has several branches that represent and promote different spiritual expressions: Ordinations to episcopacy. Two SCV members have been ordained bishop: Archbishop Jose Antonio Eguren of Piura, and Bishop Kay Schmalhausen of the Prelature of Ayaviri. Both dioceses are in Peru. Spirituality. The views of the Sodalitium on spirituality are as follows. Along with the common spirituality of the Catholic Church, the Sodalitium has its own spirituality ("the Sodalit spirituality"), discipline and style, which the members consider to be suitable means to live one's conversion  and mission within the Church. The spirituality of the Sodalitium has been influenced by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade (1761-1850), St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), several Fathers of the Church, several authors of the Benedictine and Cistercian school – among them St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) – as well as by the French school of spirituality, including Cardinal Pierre de Berulle (1575-1629). as well as by some spiritual authors of the Spanish Catholic Reformation, including Cardinal Abbot Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1455-1510), Fray Luis de Granada (1504-1588) and St. John of Ávila (1500-1569). "Integral life of  faith" is the foundation of the Christian life. The Sodalitium's members read, study, and pray, especially meditating on the Sacred Scriptures. Its tenets include: According to the Sodalitium, the spirituality of the Sodalitium is known as the Sodalit spirituality, which conforms to what is known in Church tradition as a spiritual family. A spiritual family refers to a large group of people who live their relationship with God from a particular perspective always in communion with the long tradition of the Church. The spiritual family of the Sodalitium is known as the Sodalit Family, which comprises various associations, projects  and people. Formation. Formation for the consecrated life and priesthood has several stages. While these vary from community to community in name, length of time, and format, the following outline gives a general view of formation programmes. The aspirant to membership will have questions like "What does God want of me?" The aspirant has meetings and participates in certain activities while continuing their education or work. A person may be an aspirant for between one and three years. A more formal relationship with the community occurs when a person becomes a candidate, and must discern whether the consecrated life is  the right choice. At this stage candidates live with the community. This period enables the person involved to observe and participate in religious life from inside the community, and lets the community decide whether the candidate is suitable. This stage lasts two years. This next stage of formation is called in some religious societies the novitiate, a one- to two-year period which marks the person's official entrance into the community. Trainees spend time in study and prayer, learning more about themselves, the community, spirituality and their religious relationship. Special periods of learning in practice are established to help  make an assessment of the trainee's readiness and consistency. These periods are established with special attention to the trainee's requirements and to the convenience of change in environment in the formation process. At the end of the main formative years, the Marian Consecration prepares the person for temporary promises, or vows. The person explicitly makes vows of obedience, celibacy, communication of goods and all other norms contained in the Constitutions approved by the Holy See. The temporal profession is renewed yearly and may last up to nine years. Final vows can be made after three years of temporary  promises. After these stages the person makes promises of obedience and celibacy perpetually in the Society, becoming a full member. A man preparing for the priesthood also has seminary training, where his time is spent studying theology, the Bible, the teachings of the Church, and the skills he will need to be a priest. Criticisms. The order founded by Luis Fernando Figari, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae is considered, by its members, to be orthodox in its fidelity to the Catholic Church and its magisterium, claiming the support of various Catholic bishops. Some groups are opposed to the Sodalitium, which has generated  suspicion and alarm; it is seen by some as a conservative, elitist group with an authoritarian and fundamentalist structure. After parents accused the Sodalitium of brainwashing their son and separating him from his parents, the movement opened its doors to the press for the first time in 2003. Young members were reported as laughing at talk of brainwashing, and said that they had been evangelised, not captured, as teenagers. In 2003 there were accusations of brainwashing of young people, and of elitism, conservatism, and authoritarianism. There were also detailed allegations about the founder's extreme right-wing and phalangist activism  in his youth. Sexual and physical abuse. A report in 2017 supported accusations of past sexual abuse by the SCV founder Luis Fernando Figari and by other Sodalites; the SCV apologised for these transgressions. Independent investigators commissioned by the Sodalitium reported that "Figari sexually assaulted at least one child, manipulated, sexually abused, or harmed several other young people; and physically or psychologically abused dozens of others." It was also reported that Figari committed physical abuse, being described as "appearing to enjoy observing the younger aspirants and brothers experience pain, discomfort and fear." On one occasion, he burned an individual with  a candle, and menaced members by allowing his dog to bite them at times. The report also mentions that there are several other Sodalits who had physically or psychologically abused another Sodalit or a person in formation. These people are still in the community, though they have had "administrative actions taken against them and are receiving training." In March 2016 Alessandro Moroni Llabres, Superior General of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) and the Superior Council of the SCV requested that reports be prepared on abuses perpetrated by Figari and Sodalites, and responses of the SCV. Over 200 people were interviewed , and many documents examined. The reports concluded that Luis Fernando Figari and former Sodalites, none of whom (except Figari) remained attached to the SCV, committed sexual abuse on minors and adults, with the last abuse on an adult in the year 2000. Llabres asked for forgiveness from those hurt. On 30 January 2017, the Vatican's 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." On 10 January 2018, it was  announced that Pope Francis had appointed Bishop Noel Londoño Buitrago of the Diocese of Jericó, Colombia as papal commissioner. He will work alongside the papal delegate, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Diocese of Newark. Pope Francis said that a verdict would be reached within a month, and was likely to be unfavourable to Figari. Tobin had found instances of sexual and psychological abuse, and financial irregularities. Pedro Salinas, a former member, said at the time that during his membership to the SCV in the 1980s he was subject to absurd orders, and 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". On 10 March 2019 Cardinal Pedro Barreto said that he and other bishops in Peru had asked the Vatican to dissolve the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, commenting "Personally, I think that when a religious organization has committed a crime, because it has to be said that way—from the point of view of sexual abuse and the economic side where there are also problems—it has to be dissolved. The fundamental problem is that the founder ... is a perverted person, and such  a person cannot transmit the holiness of life." Prosecutors in Peru at the time were believed to be considering criminal charges relating to acts of abuse in the Sodalitium. the Church had not decided whether to dissolve or reform the Sodalitium.