Peruvians file criminal charges against Vatican investigators, defying threat of excommunication

BRUSSELS – Two Peruvian laypeople who testified as part of an ongoing Vatican investigation into a scandal-plagued lay movement announced on social media Friday that they have filed a criminal complaint against one of the Vatican’s investigators and are refusing to withdraw it, even if they face criminal charges and the papal threat of excommunication.

In a video posted on YouTube on September 27, layperson Giuliana Caccia Arana and layperson Sebastian Blanco said they received a call on September 26 from the Vatican embassy in Lima requesting an urgent meeting. During that meeting with Archbishop Paolo Gualtieri, the Vatican’s envoy to Peru, they said they received a document “containing a penal regulation signed by Pope Francis, giving us 48 hours to fulfill five conditions .”

If these conditions are not met, they said, “we will enter a process of excommunication.” ferendae sententiaeThis means that they do not apply automatically, but are imposed if the conditions are not met.

In July 2023, both Caccia and Blanco had requested an interview with the Vatican’s top investigative duo – Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, assistant secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Doctrine of the Faith, and Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, an official in the department – after the Pope sent the duo to Lima to investigate the scandal-plagued case Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV).

Neither Cacccia nor Blanco had been called to testify, but they requested and were given a meeting. Ultimately, they only spoke to Bertomeu on the first day of the investigation because Scicluna’s flight was delayed.

According to the comments previously given coreCaccia asked the assembly to file a complaint against two former SCV members who accused her of harassment, and Blanco, whose brother served as long-time secretary to SCV founder Luis Fernando Figari, reportedly spoke about his time as a long-time member of the SCV.

In their video, Caccia and Blanco accused Bertomeu of breaking his “professional secrecy” by revealing confidential information about their statements and said they had filed a criminal complaint against him in Peru in July.

“The criminal complaint has been accepted and is ongoing, both parties have been notified,” it said.

They said they took the extraordinary step after seeing details of their conversation in the media and assuming Bertomeu was the source, prompting them to send him two notarized letters “requesting an explanation “.

Caccia and Blanco said that as part of the investigation, Bertomeu questioned other witnesses about various points they made, but did not name them. In their view, this constituted an “attack on confidentiality” and prompted them to take legal action.

It is believed to be the first time a papal envoy has been criminally denounced in a Vatican investigation by witnesses who testified as part of the inquiry.

The papal decree, signed on September 25, was published on the social media platform X by Alejandro Bermudez, a former member of the SCV who was expelled from the community on Wednesday.

According to the order, Caccia and Blanco “filed an unjustified and reckless complaint alleging ‘breach of professional secrecy’.” [not just] against one of the members of the ‘special mission’, but against ‘all those responsible’, including the Holy Father himself, the main person responsible for the ‘special mission’.”

The decree, which also cited other reasons for the threat of excommunication, accused Caccia and Blanco of “publicly stirring up hatred against the Apostolic See by an act of ecclesiastical officialdom” and “obstructing the free exercise of the ecclesiastical power to investigate alleged investigations.” “. notitiae delictothereby obstructing canonical justice” and “unlawfully damaging the good reputation of third parties”.

The decree states that the threat of excommunication was made “in view of the need to intervene promptly for the good of souls and to avoid further scandals and the repetition of the crimes reported, as well as any pressure or retaliation on the members of my special mission’, which is still ongoing.”

Both Caccia and Blando were asked to “immediately withdraw” their legal complaint against Bertomeu, apologize and provide “fair explanations as to the veracity of the facts and the request for apology offered” to media platforms with which they had already interacted on the matter Members of the ‘Special Mission’.”

They were also asked to provide the nunciature with proof of compliance with these demands within 48 hours and were prohibited from making any further public statements on the matter or speaking to the media about it.

“Due to the extreme seriousness of the criminal behavior reported here, out of respect for the truth and for the salvation of the souls of those affected,” the decree states that Caccia and Blanco would do so if these conditions were not met within 48 hours excommunicated ferendae sententiae.

This means, among other things, that both Caccia and Blanco are “prohibited from receiving all sacraments, carrying out any office, task, service or ecclesiastical function.”

If the conditions are not met, “they must each transfer 100,000 Peruvian soles to Caritas Lima,” which is almost $27,000, and they “may never again present themselves in public as Catholics or the Catholic Church at any social event “represented,” the decree said.

The decree stated that if the conditions were not met, the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference would publish the decree on its website.

In their video, released after receiving the decree, Caccia and Blanco said they “in no way tried to hinder the special mission sent by Pope Francis or question its legitimacy.”

Their lawsuit against Bertomeu had “no relation to the ongoing investigation” against the SCV, they said, saying the pope had been “misinformed” about their actions.

Caccia and Blanco said they “cannot accept the conditions imposed by the papal decree” and that they released their video “to get ahead of this news because it is for those close to us, our families and friends , appear fair and merciful.”

They said they felt “pressured and blackmailed” by the papal decree and expressed concern that their excommunication sets a worrying precedent for the Catholic Church.

“We want to believe that this was all the work of people who have other interests and are trying to silence us, and that to do this they misinformed the Pope,” they said, reiterating their intention to take legal action against Bertomeu “for…” the love of the truth, out of love for the Catholic Church and for Jesus Christ.”

Neither Caccia nor Blanco nor Holy See officials immediately responded to a request for comment core Please comment.