ROME – A Peruvian priest recently expelled from a scandal-plagued lay group, in part because of allegations of financial impropriety, has sent a registered letter to the papal embassy in Peru demanding a series of corrections to the Oct. 23 announcement that he was deposed. its content is “false and defamatory”.

Crux has 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 top investigative team – Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, a co-secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), and Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, an official of the diocese – to Lima to lead an in-depth investigation into the charges against sodalithium.

This past 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 Ferroggiaro, accused of assaulting a minor; Baertl, accused of sexual harassment and financial corruption; and Juan Carlos Len, also accused of financial corruption.

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

The announcement of Baertl and Len’s expulsion said that the decision was made on the basis of “the seriousness of the sexual abuse committed by one of the accused, as well as the personal responsibility of these two ordained persons in many illegal and illegal acts of organizations of organizations. Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.”

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

A day later, Baertl and Len sent a certified letter to the Nunciature, claiming that the measures taken were unjust and that the allegations in the communique were false and therefore “defamatory”. They said these allegations “have nothing to do with the truth and are defamatory” as defined by canon law.

Baertl and Len requested an “immediate correction” of various points, including the message’s implication that either man had committed sexual assault, which they said is “absolutely false.” They said that a canonical inquiry did not refer to this claim, and that an allegation of sexual abuse “constitutes a serious injury to the good name to which every person is entitled, including ourselves.”

Baertl and Len also denied any responsibility for the irregular or illegal activities of companies affiliated with the SCV, saying that while this allegation was included in the communiqué, it was not part of their expulsion decree, and as such amounted to ” false and seriously defamatory” allegations.

They accepted the communique’s description of “sinful” financial management and investment, saying that was also not included in the expulsion decree, and that likewise an allegation of illegal use of assets that should have gone to charity was not in the official decree. of deportation.

They called all these allegations “unsubstantiated” and said they “may end up constituting a civil and canonical offense of libel”, hinting that they could take legal action against the nunciature, and calling 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, demanded it Crux tell him who had provided the letter, which Crux declined to do because of journalistic ethics regarding the protection of sources.

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

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

(Under Peruvian law, a private citizen can file a criminal claim without prior review by a prosecutor or district attorney.)

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

Suspicions that both the complaint from Caccia and Blanco and the letter from Baertl and Len are part of a concerted effort to discredit the Vatican investigation have been heightened by business and personal ties between the various parties.

For example, Blanco 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 “Person, Life, Family” founded by Caccia in 2019, where as of 2020 Caccia was president, Sebastian as secretary and Ignacio as treasurer. According to a profile sheet available at the National Superintendency of Public Records in Peru (SUNARP), a lawyer named Gonzalo Agustin Flores Santana serves as the lawyer for the group.

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

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

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

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

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When asked if he had made similar disclosures, Sebastian Blanco denied having any business dealings whatsoever with either Baertl or Javier Len.

“I have no kind of business with Fr. Jaime Baertl nor with Fr. Javier Len,” he told Cruxand says the only place where “we coincide” is as members of the board of the San Lucas Association, which he said is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting priests, religious, youth and poor people in remote mountain areas of Peru.

Although several SCV and now former SCV members sit on San Lucas’ board, he said, it has “no institutional connection of any kind” with SCV.

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

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen