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A <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/religion/roman-catholic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peruvian archbishop</a> who sued two journalists over their reports about sexual abuse and financial corruption in his religious movement, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, has resigned amid a Vatican investigation.Pope Francis on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Piura Archbishop José Eguren. At 67, he is several years shy of the normal retirement age for bishops of 75.The Vatican didn’t say why Eguren was retiring early in its brief announcement. But <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/religion/vatican" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Vatican</a> last year began an in-depth investigation of abuse and financial wrongdoing in the Peruvian-based Sodalitium to which Eguren belongs.<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/why-say-vaticans-process-dealing-sex-abuse-further-harm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WHY SOME SAY THE VATICAN'S PROCESS FOR DEALING WITH SEX ABUSE DOES FURTHER HARM</a>The Vatican has had its eye on Sodalitium, which has chapters across South America and the U.S., for over a decade. In 2017, a report commissioned by the group’s new leadership determined that its founder, Luis Fernando Figari, sodomized his recruits and subjected them to humiliating psychological and other sexual abuses.Those abuses first came to light in a 2015, thanks to reporting by Peruvian journalists Pedro Salinas and Paola Ugaz. In addition to Figari's own abuses, their reporting exposed the alleged forced eviction of peasants on lands in Eguren’s diocese by a Sodalitium-linked real estate developer.In 2018, Eguren sued them for defamation, seeking about $100,000 total and jail time for what he alleged was damage to his honor and reputation. He dropped the aggravated defamation lawsuit in 2019, after he came under criticism from even within the Peruvian church.Last year, the Vatican sent its two top <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sex abuse investigators</a> to Peru to investigate not only allegations of sexual and psychological abuses still in the Sodalitium, but also allegations of financial corruption.The report’s details have not been released, but Salinas suggested Eguren’s removal was directly related to the Vatican investigation and a possible sign that other action could be forthcoming. Salinas himself was a victim of Figari and has been at the forefront of trying to hold Sodalitium accountable; Ugaz for her part met with Francis in 2022."This is unprecedented and should be interpreted as the preamble to something bigger: the possible suppression of the Sodalitium," Salinas said in a message to The Associated Press.Eguren made no mention of the investigation in a statement posted on the Piura archdiocesan website that announced his resignation and the nomination of temporary successor, Monsignor Guillermo Elías Millares.<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/vatican-investigation-former-australian-bishop-accused-child-sex-abuse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">VATICAN EXAMINING FINDINGS OF INVESTIGATION OF FORMER AUSTRALIAN BISHOP ACCUSED OF CHILD SEX ABUSE</a>Eguren said that at all times he had "tried to fulfill the mission entrusted to me, with justice, honesty and fidelity to the teachings of the church, with special concern for the good of the poorest and most needy."He quoted Pope Benedict XVI as saying that "loving <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/faith-values/faith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the church</a> also means having the courage to make difficult and painful decisions, always keeping in mind the good of the church and not of ourselves."Figari founded the SCV, as the Sodalitium is known, in 1971, as a lay community to recruit "soldiers for God." It was one of several Catholic societies born as a conservative reaction to the left-leaning liberation theology movement that swept through Latin America starting in the 1960s.Victims first complained to the Lima archdiocese about Figari's perversions and abuses in May 2011. The archdiocese says it turned the case over to the Vatican immediately, but neither the local church nor the Holy See took concrete action until Salinas’ book, "Half Monks, Half Soldiers," was published in 2015.Sodalitium has said in the past that it was collaborating with the Vatican investigation. It has quoted Figari as saying he is innocent, but has called the allegations in "Half Monks, Half Soldiers" plausible.Klaus Mäkelä, 28, will take over as music director for the Chicago Symphony in 2027

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published: 2024-04-02 18:54:00.000000000 Z
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 guid: https://www.foxnews.com/world/peruvian-archbishop-resigned-position-vatican-investigates-disturbing-reports
title: Peruvian archbishop has resigned from position as the Vatican investigates
 disturbing reports
categories:
- 25eaeccb-aea7-5320-89a4-102737247f85
- fnc
- Fox News
- fox-news/world
- fox-news/topic/associated-press
- fox-news/world/religion/vatican
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- fox-news/world
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content: 'A <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/religion/roman-catholic"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peruvian archbishop</a> who sued two journalists
 over their reports about sexual abuse and financial corruption in his religious
 movement, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, has resigned amid a Vatican investigation.Pope
 Francis on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Piura Archbishop José Eguren. At
 67, he is several years shy of the normal retirement age for bishops of 75.The
 Vatican didn’t say why Eguren was retiring early in its brief announcement. But
 <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/religion/vatican" target="_blank"
 rel="noopener">the Vatican</a> last year began an in-depth investigation of abuse
 and financial wrongdoing in the Peruvian-based Sodalitium to which Eguren belongs.<a
 href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/why-say-vaticans-process-dealing-sex-abuse-further-harm"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener">WHY SOME SAY THE VATICAN''S PROCESS FOR DEALING
 WITH SEX ABUSE DOES FURTHER HARM</a>The Vatican has had its eye
 on Sodalitium, which has chapters across South America and the U.S., for over a
 decade. In 2017, a report commissioned by the group’s new leadership determined
 that its founder, Luis Fernando Figari, sodomized his recruits and subjected them
 to humiliating psychological and other sexual abuses.Those abuses first came
 to light in a 2015, thanks to reporting by Peruvian journalists Pedro Salinas and
 Paola Ugaz. In addition to Figari''s own abuses, their reporting exposed the alleged
 forced eviction of peasants on lands in Eguren’s diocese by a Sodalitium-linked
 real estate developer.In 2018, Eguren sued them for defamation, seeking about
 $100,000 total and jail time for what he alleged was damage to his honor and reputation.
 He dropped the aggravated defamation lawsuit in 2019, after he came under criticism
 from even within the Peruvian church.Last year, the Vatican sent its two
 top <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sex
 abuse investigators</a> to Peru to investigate not only allegations of sexual and
 psychological abuses still in the Sodalitium, but also allegations of financial
 corruption.The report’s details have not been released, but Salinas suggested
 Eguren’s removal was directly related to the Vatican investigation and a possible
 sign that other action could be forthcoming. Salinas himself was a victim of Figari
 and has been at the forefront of trying to hold Sodalitium accountable; Ugaz for
 her part met with Francis in 2022."This is unprecedented and should be interpreted
 as the preamble to something bigger: the possible suppression of the Sodalitium,"
 Salinas said in a message to The Associated Press.Eguren made no mention
 of the investigation in a statement posted on the Piura archdiocesan website that
 announced his resignation and the nomination of temporary successor, Monsignor Guillermo
 Elías Millares.<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/vatican-investigation-former-australian-bishop-accused-child-sex-abuse"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener">VATICAN EXAMINING FINDINGS OF INVESTIGATION
 OF FORMER AUSTRALIAN BISHOP ACCUSED OF CHILD SEX ABUSE</a>Eguren
 said that at all times he had "tried to fulfill the mission entrusted to me, with
 justice, honesty and fidelity to the teachings of the church, with special concern
 for the good of the poorest and most needy."He quoted Pope Benedict XVI as
 saying that "loving <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/faith-values/faith"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener">the church</a> also means having the courage to make
 difficult and painful decisions, always keeping in mind the good of the church and
 not of ourselves."Figari founded the SCV, as the Sodalitium is known, in
 1971, as a lay community to recruit "soldiers for God." It was one of several Catholic
 societies born as a conservative reaction to the left-leaning liberation theology
 movement that swept through Latin America starting in the 1960s.Victims first
 complained to the Lima archdiocese about Figari''s perversions and abuses in May
 2011. The archdiocese says it turned the case over to the Vatican immediately, but
 neither the local church nor the Holy See took concrete action until Salinas’ book,
 "Half Monks, Half Soldiers," was published in 2015.Sodalitium has said in
 the past that it was collaborating with the Vatican investigation. It has quoted
 Figari as saying he is innocent, but has called the allegations in "Half Monks,
 Half Soldiers" plausible.Klaus Mäkelä, 28, will take over as music director
 for the Chicago Symphony in 2027'
summary: After suing two journalists for reports on sexual abuse and financial corruption,
 a Peruvian archbishop, José Eguren, has resigned in the midst of a Vatican investigation.
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url: https://www.foxnews.com/world/peruvian-archbishop-resigned-position-vatican-investigates-disturbing-reports
image: https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/04/931/523/Peruvian-archbishop-resigns.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

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