Pope Francis has dissolved the Sodalitium of Christian Life (SCV), a Peruvian-based Catholic movement, after years of attempts at reform and a Vatican investigation. The investigation found sexual abuse by its founder, financial mismanagement by its leaders, and spiritual abuse by top members.
The SCV confirmed the dissolution in a statement, which was conveyed to an assembly of its members by Pope Francis’s top legal adviser, Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda. However, the group denied that the reported details were entirely accurate.
Victims of the movement have been calling for its suppression for years, and some welcomed the decision. Pedro Salinas, one of the victims, said it was “extraordinary” that Pope Francis took action after 25 years of denunciations.
The dissolution marks an end to the slow death of the SCV, which was founded in 1971 as a conservative reaction to liberation theology. At its height, the group had about 20,000 members across South America and the US.
A Vatican investigation led by Archbishop Charles Scicluna found “sadistic” sect-like abuses of power, authority, and spirituality, as well as economic and journalistic abuses. The report resulted in the expulsions of the movement’s founder and top members last year.
The fate of the SCV’s assets remains unknown, with victims wanting to use them as compensation for their trauma. Only the Holy See can manage the institute’s temporal goods, according to Vatican law.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/20/pope-dissolves-sodalitium-of-christian-life-peru-catholic-movement-vatican-investigation