Pope 'saddened,' 'disgusted' by Sodalitium abuses, survivor says

ROME (OSV News) -- Pope Francis met with José Enrique Escardó, the first member of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae to denounce abuse within the movement 25 years ago.

Speaking to several journalists outside the Vatican press office Jan. 24, Escardó said he also met with several officials, including Cardinal Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, and Consolata Missionary Sister Simona Brambilla, the recently appointed prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life.

The visit comes just several days after Sodalitium confirmed reports the pope dissolved the movement, which was mired in numerous allegations of sexual, physical and psychological abuse, as well as financial malfeasance.

Although the Vatican has yet to release an official statement, Escardó said the pope confirmed the group's suppression and also confirmed the appointment of Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu, an official of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, as the "commissioner" charged with overseeing the group's dissolution.

The Vatican launched an investigation in July 2023, led by Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Msgr. Bertomeu. During their investigation, the prelates met with victims and leaders of Sodalitium, as well as journalists who investigated the organization.

Escardó said his meeting with the pope was very brief because "he listened to me and I liked that a lot."

"I didn't find myself in front of an authority who told me what was being done in order to be applauded nor telling me what I should do. Instead, he was silent and listening. He only said two or three comments that were very precise, like a sniper; straight to the point," he recalled.

Escardó said the pope listened attentively to his experience of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of Germán Doig, co-founder of Sodalitium.

Doig, whose sainthood cause was opened after his death in 2001, was promoted at the time as a model of holiness by the group's members. However, his cause was closed a decade later after the accusations of sexual abuse against him and the founder of the movement, Luis Fernando Figari, were found credible.

The survivor said he first joined Sodalitium when he was 12 years old. Between the age of 15 and 16, Escardó was sexually abused by Doig. He went on to live with a community where he suffered physical and psychological abuse on a daily basis.

"They would put a knife to my neck, they made me sleep on the stairs. They made me wash my face and hands with dirty toilet water," he said. This lasted several months before he finally escaped, he recalled.

However, after exposing the abuse in 2000, Escardó said he received countless death threats against him and his daughter as well as constant insults on social media from Sodalitium members and sympathizers till this day.

The pope's body language, he said, "surprised me very much because at each thing that I would say, he would make it clear that he was disturbed, that he was disgusted, that he was sad. (His reactions) were very physical. And I left comforted because I felt that he listened to me."

He was also surprised by the pope's response.

"First, he thanked me very much for what I was doing, to keep going and to not be afraid. But before that, he said: 'Whatever you ask of (Msgr.) Jordi Bertomeu, I will sign it.' And that seemed to me like a sign that the victims are first and should be first, which was something I said about five times at the meeting."

Escardó said he recommended to Pope Francis, Sister Brambilla and Cardinal Prevost the establishment of a "council of survivors" to oversee the next steps in Sodalitium's dissolution because "we are the experts on this issue, we know what has happened, what is lacking, what is needed and what should or shouldn't be done."

He also highlighted the need for civil authorities in Peru to be held accountable for their failure to protect victims of Sodalitium.

"I was just recently in Geneva at the United Nations' Committee on the Rights of the Child" so that they would also question Peruvian authorities on the Sodalitium case. In that way, "I want to connect what the Catholic Church is doing with what true justice, civil justice and penal justice should do," he said.

Archbishop Hector Miguel Cabrejos of Trujillo, then-president of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference (CEP) -- who ended his term on the same day he issued the comments -- said Jan. 22 that the investigation by Archbishop Scicluna and Msgr. Bertomeu was "a continuation of a report that the bishops' conference had been working on for some time."

"We are asking the Holy Father to authorize its release, and everything will be made public, but it is also tied to the decision, as we have said, of the suppression of the Sodalitium, and we are waiting for the official notification," Archbishop Cabrejos told Peruvian news outlet La República.

Archbishop Cabrejos’ assertion that the bishops had been investigating Sodalitium since 2015 drew sharp criticisms from abuse survivors, including Escardó, who said the bishops did little to nothing to help victims.

Asked if he told the pope about the bishops' inaction, Escardó said he told him "directly."

"I told him that if in Chile, he asked for the resignations of all the bishops, the Sodalitium case was much bigger and the inaction, negligence, irresponsibility and lies of the bishops of Peru were much greater than what happened in Chile. Thus, by that logic, he must take the same measure or stronger measures," Escardó said.

While he was encouraged by his meeting with the pope, Escardó said the dissolution of Sodalitium was "a new phase" in a long process of healing for survivors like him.

"It has also been a process that still doesn't end. I am still in therapy every day. You may see me here strong but a survivor is a person who decides every day to keep living," he said.

Thanking journalists for reporting on the case, Escardó said the continued reports "help me and other victims to keep living."