Peruvian priest expelled from scandalous group demands ‘corrections’ from papal embassy

ROME – A Peruvian priest who was recently expelled from a scandal-plagued lay group amid allegations of financial irregularities has sent a registered letter to the papal embassy in Peru demanding a series of corrections to the Oct. 23 announcement of his removal, calling its content “false and defamatory.” .

essence it has also been revealed that the priest in question, Father Jaime Bertl, has business ties to a person who helped launch a criminal case in Peru against Vatican officials investigating the group, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV).

In July last year, Pope Francis sent his leading investigative team – Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, adjunct secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Doctrine (DDF), and Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, an official representative of the dicastery – to Lima to conduct an in-depth investigation into the allegations against sodalitium.

Archbishop Charles Chaput (left) and Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu (right) meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday, October 21, 2024. (Photo: Vatican Media.)

Last week, the papal embassy in Peru, known as the “nunciature,” announced that the Pope had expelled four members of the SCV: Jose Ambrozic, a former vicar general of the SCV and former superior of the Denver House; Luis Antonio Ferrogiaro, accused of violence against a minor; Bertl, accused of sexual harassment and financial corruption; and Juan Carlos Len, also accused of financial corruption.

The move comes after the Pope excommunicated SCV founder Luis Fernando Figari in August, along with 10 other high-ranking members last month, bringing the total number of excommunications to 15.

The announcement of the expulsion of Bertl and Len said that the decision was made on the basis of “the seriousness of the sexual violence committed by one of the accused, as well as the personal responsibility of these two consecrated persons in numerous irregular and illegal actions of organizations in Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.”

It said some of their economic management and investments within the SCV “are sinful actions that betray the Gospel.”

A day later Bertl and Len sent notarized letter to the nunciature, claiming that the measures taken were unjust and that the accusations in the communique were false and therefore “defamatory”. They said the allegations “have nothing to do with the truth and are slanderous,” as defined by the Code of Canon Law.

Bertl and Len demanded “immediate correction” of various points, including the statement’s implication that both men had been sexually assaulted, which they said was “absolutely untrue.” They said the canonical inquiry did not refer to the allegation and that the sexual abuse allegation “does serious damage to the good name to which every human being is entitled, including ourselves”.

Bertl and Lehn also denied any responsibility for irregular or illegal activities by SCV-affiliated companies, and said that while the allegation was included in the communiqué, it was not part of their exclusion orders and as such was “false.” and serious defamation allegations.

They questioned the communique’s description of “sinful” economic management and investment, saying that this was also not included in the expulsion decree, and that the accusation of illegal use of assets that should have gone to charity was also not in the official decree. exile.

They called all the allegations “baseless” and said they “could amount to a civil and canonical crime of defamation”, suggesting they could sue the nunciature and calling for a public “correction”.

Neither Bertl nor the papal ambassador to Peru, Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri, immediately responded to essence request for comment. However, Bertl demanded it essence tell him who provided the letter which essence refused to do so for reasons of journalistic ethics regarding the protection of sources.

Bertl, long regarded as SCV’s financial czar and the architect of their financial empire, also has ties to two individuals who have brought criminal proceedings against Bertomeu for alleged breach of professional secrecy.

They are Peruvian laywoman Juliana Caccia Arana and layman Sebastian Blanco, who last year asked to give an interview to Scicluna and Bertomeu. They were given a meeting and, as Scicluna missed his flight, Bertomeu spoke with them. When details of their conversation became public, Caccia and Blanco filed criminal charges against Bertomeu, suggesting he should have disclosed the information.

(Under Peruvian law, a private individual may file a criminal complaint without a preliminary hearing by a prosecutor or district attorney.)

Participants in the trial said that the identities of Caccia and Blanco were identified by photographers outside the nunciature, and that the content of their accusations, but not their names, were given to other witnesses in the investigation by Scicluna and Bertomeu to assess their veracity. As a result, these participants say, the information in question should not have come from Bertomeu.

Suspicions that both Caccia and Blanco’s complaint and Bertl and Lehn’s letter are part of a coordinated effort to discredit the Vatican investigation have been fueled by business and personal connections between the various parties.

Blanco, for example, is the brother of Ignacio Blanco, Figari’s longtime personal secretary who left the SCV in 2018, and who is also currently in a relationship with Caccia, a cultural and political activist who has spoken before the Peruvian parliament on family issues.

Caccia and the Blanco brothers are also jointly involved in the association “Man, Life, Family” founded by Caccia in 2019, where as of 2020 Caccia served as president, Sebastian as secretary and Ignacio as treasurer. A lawyer named Gonzalo Agustin Flores Santana is acting as the group’s lawyer, according to a profile available at the National Supervisory Office of State Archives of Peru (SUNARP).

essence it was learned that Flores Santana is also a member of SCV’s “Santa Rosa Foundation,” which is based in Denver and is believed to receive funds from SCV’s Peruvian companies.

According to a profile page posted on CauseIQ, the Santa Rosa Foundation’s secretary is Jose Ambrozik, who was also expelled this week for alleged financial misconduct, and its vice president is Juan Carlos Lehn, who was expelled along with Bertle.

According to SUNARP, Sebastián Blanco is also the secretary of the Asociación San Lucas Civil San Lucas in Peru, where Bertle serves as treasurer and Father Javier Len, the brother of Carlos Len, who was expelled this week along with Bertle, serves as president.

Asked whether she disclosed her relationship with Ignacio Blanco, as well as her personal and business relationships with both Blanco brothers, in her testimony to Bertomeu last year, Caccia said essence that the meeting was confidential and “I will not violate the confidentiality of the agreements”.

Asked whether he had made such disclosures, Sebastian Blanco denied any business ties to Bertle or Javier Len.

“I have no business with Fr. Jaime Bertl, nor with Fr. Javier Len,” he said essencesaying that the only place where “we match” is as members of the board of directors of the San Lucas Association, which he said is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting priests, nuns, youth and poor people in the remote mountainous areas of Peru .

Although several SCV members and now former SCV members are on the San Lucas board, he said he has “no institutional connection” to SCV.

Regarding his meeting with Bertomeu last year, Blanco said the meeting was confidential and “I respect that confidentiality.”

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