Peru priest expelled from scandal-ridden group demands ‘corrections’ from papal embassy

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

Crux also learned that the priest in question, Father Jaime Baertl, has business ties to a person who helped launch a criminal complaint in Peru against Vatican officials leading an investigation into the group, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV).

Last July, Pope Francis sent his main investigative team – Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, deputy secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, an official of the dicastery – to Lima to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations against the sodalite.

Archbishop Charles Chaput, left, and Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, right, meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday, October 21, 2024. (Credit: 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, former vicar general of the SCV and former superior of the house in Denver; Luis Antonio Ferroggiaro, accused of abusing a minor; Baertl, accused of sexual misconduct and financial corruption; and Juan Carlos Len, also accused of financial corruption.

The move comes after the pope last month expelled SCV founder Luis Fernando Figari in August, as well as 10 other top members, bringing the total number of those expelled to 15.

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

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

A day later, Baertl and Len sent a legalized letter Nunciature claiming that the measures taken are unfair and the allegations in the statement are false and therefore “defamatory”. They said those allegations “have nothing to do with the truth and are defamatory,” as defined by the Code of Canon Law.

Baertl and Len called for an “immediate correction” of various points, including the statement’s implication that either man had committed sexual abuse, which they said was “absolutely false.” They said a canonical inquiry made no reference to the allegation and that an allegation of sexual abuse “constitutes serious damage to the good name to which every person is entitled, including ourselves”.

Baertl and Len also denied any responsibility for irregular or illegal activities of SCV affiliates and said that while this allegation was included in the release, it was not part of their expulsion decrees and as such rises to “false”. and grossly defamatory allegations.”

They disputed the statement’s description of “sinful” economic management and investment, saying that this too was not included in the expulsion decree, and that an allegation of illegal use of assets that should have gone to charity also did not it was in the official decree. of expulsion.

They called all these accusations “baseless” and said they “could amount to a civil and canonical offense of defamation”, hinting that they could take legal action against the nunciature and called for a “public correction”.

Neither Baertl nor the papal ambassador to Peru, Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri, immediately responded to a Crux request for comment. Baertl, however, asked for this Crux tell him who had supplied the letter, which Crux he refused to do so for reasons of journalistic ethics regarding the protection of sources.

Baertl, who has long been seen as SCV’s financial czar and the architect of their financial empire, also has ties to two people who filed a criminal complaint against Bertomeu for an alleged breach of professional secrecy.

These individuals are Peruvian laywoman Giuliana Caccia Arana and layman Sebastian Blanco, who last year asked to be interviewed by Scicluna and Bertomeu. They were given an appointment and, since Scicluna missed the flight, they were interviewed by Bertomeu. When the details of their conversation became public, Caccia and Blanco filed a criminal complaint against Bertomeu, alleging that he must have leaked the information.

(Under Peruvian law, a private citizen may file a criminal complaint without prior examination by a prosecutor or district attorney.)

Participants in the trial said that the identities of Caccia and Blanco were discovered by photographers outside the nuncio and that the content of their accusations, but not their names, were given to other witnesses in the investigation of Scicluna and Bertomeu to evaluate. their truthfulness. 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 Baertl and Len’s letter are part of a coordinated effort to discredit the Vatican investigation have been reinforced by the business and personal ties between the various parties.

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

Caccia and the Blanco brothers are also involved together in the association “Person, Life, Family”, founded by Caccia in 2019, and where, as of 2020, Caccia has served as president, Sebastian as secretary and Ignacio as treasurer. According to a profile sheet available at the National Superintendence of Public Records of Peru (SUNARP), a lawyer named Gonzalo Agustin Flores Santana serves as a lawyer for the group.

Crux learned that Flores Santana is also a member of SCV’s “Santa Rosa Foundation,” which is based in Denver and is believed to be a recipient of funds from SCV companies in Peru.

According to a profile page listed on CauseIQ, the Santa Rosa Foundation’s secretary is Jose Ambrozic, who was also expelled this week for alleged financial misconduct, and its vice president is Juan Carlos Len, who was expelled alongside Baertl.

According to SUNARP, Sebastian Blanco also serves as secretary of Peru’s “Asociación San Lucas Civil San Lucas,” where Baertl is treasurer and Father Javier Len, brother of Carlos Len, who was expelled this week along with Baertl, is president.

Asked if she disclosed her relationship with Ignacio Blanco and her personal and business dealings with both Blanco brothers in her testimony to Bertomeu last year, Caccia said Crux that the meeting was confidential and “I am not breaching the confidentiality of what was agreed.”

Asked if he made similar disclosures, Sebastian Blanco denied having any business dealings with Baertl or Javier Len.

“I have no business with Fr. Jaime Baertl nor with Fr. Javier Len,” he said Cruxsaying the only place we “coincide” is as board members of the San Lucas association, which he said is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting priests, religious, youth and poor people in the remote highlands of Peru.

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

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

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