Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), or Sodalitium"Sodalitium", a word not in the Oxford English Dictionary, rather than the English "sodality", was always used by the SCV for its name in English. A sodality is a religious guild or brotherhood established for purposes of devotion or mutual help or action. The adjective "Sodalit" used by the SCV and in this article is also not in the OED. of Christian Life was a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right, a society of the Catholic Church. It was founded in Lima, Peru, by Luis Fernando Figari on 8 December 1971. It acquired its 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, and was enormously influential in Peru. By 1997, there were Sodalit communities in several countries. It was dissolved by Pope Francis in 2025 after serious wrongdoing.
The Sodalitium was composed of consecrated laymen and priests, called "Sodalits,"Constitutions of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, 1 website of the Sodalitium who lived in community as brothers and made commitments—not religious vows as such—of celibacy and obedience.
Being recognised as a lay society of apostolic life of pontifical right, the Sodalitium was under the authority of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life of the Holy See. It was the first lay society of apostolic life to receive pontifical approval.
There were accusations of brainwashing of young people, and of elitism, conservatism, and authoritarianism; and of sexual abuse by founder Luis Fernando Figari and other Sodalites. There were also allegations of right-wing and falangist activism by Figari in his youth. From 2020 there were calls by Church authorities for the Sodalitium to be dissolved due to wrongdoing.
On 14 January 2025, Pope Francis signed the decree suppressing the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae; the Sodalitium expressed deep sorrow and shame for its actions, and requested forgiveness. The decree was formally implemented on 14 April 2025.
Description The Sodalitium of Christian Life was started in Peru in 1971. It was 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 said there are many different areas of evangelisation, and that three "apostolic accents" are of particular importance: Christian solidarity with those who are in need and marginalized, evangelisation of youth, and evangelisation of culture. The promotion of the family and defense of the life and dignity of humans are other important areas. These, 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","Founder" website of the CLM in the US. 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 (Instituto 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."The Sodalitium in Colombia" from the website of the Sodalitium Later that year a second community was founded in Brazil in the city of Petrópolis,"The Sodalitium in Brazil" from the website of the Sodalitium 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."The Sodalitium in Costa Rica" from the website of the Sodalitium
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."History of the Sodalitium" from the website of the Sodalitium 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."The Sodalitium in Italy" from the website of the Sodalitium 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,"Who are we?", from the website of the Servants of the Plan of God a group of women consecrated to God; they lived in community and evangelised and promoted solidarity.
In January 1999, the Sodalitium erected the Our Lady of Carmen (Nuestra Señora del Carmen) community in Santiago, Chile."The Sodalitium in Chile" from the website of the Sodalitium 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 16 February 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed José Antonio Eguren, a Sodalite, an auxiliary bishop of Lima; he received his episcopal consecration on 7 April.
Accepting the invitation of the Archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, to administer the Saint Malo's Retreat Center, the Sodalitium founded a community in the US state of Colorado in 2003.