Jordi Bertomeu Farnós: The Man Who Has Destroyed the Sodalitium Vitae Christianae
The man who buried the community was Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu Farnós. From the beginning, Bertomeu, an official of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, was not an independent judge who weighed both sides, but a tool of the enemies of the Sodalitium, writes Erwin Scheuch, a former member of the Sodalitium, on InfoVaticana.com (15 April). His version.
An example: Jordi Bertomeu had many "pleasant and intimate meetings" with Pedro Salinas, one of the Sodalitium's main detractors.
"What's wrong with having a few beers with Bertomeu?" Salinas asked later.
At the time, Bertomeu said the lawsuit of Monsignor José Antonio Eguren Anselmi, 68, a former member of the Sodalitium, against Salinas, was "unfair". But weeks later, Peruvian courts found Salinas guilty of defamation.
Bertomeu called for an investigation into the Sodalitium on the basis of allegations made by Paola Ugaz, who accused the Sodalitium of persecuting her. But her accusations were not confirmed by the Peruvian courts. Nevertheless, Bertomeu got his investigation.
Once his mission had begun, Bertomeu accepted among the accusers the journalist Elise Allen, a former member of the Sodalitium and the wife of John Allen (CruxNow.com).
The powers granted to Bertomeu by Pope Francis were never made public. So no one knew what he could and couldn't do.
At first he said he was only investigating "economic matters", but later he admitted that he was also investigating several allegations.
His apologists say that he only acted as a notary and that the interrogations were conducted by Charles Scicluna. But then Bertomeu questioned Giuliana Caccia and Sebastián Blanco, two members of the Sodalitium, and leaked their confidential testimony to journalists.
In this way, Bertomeu went from being a notary to an investigator and suddenly a lawyer for the accused and the prosecution. He encouraged several people to publish their testimonies and ask for reparations. He organised meetings for them with Vatican bureaucrats, including Francis.
As prosecutor, Bertomeu presented a list of alleged "grave offences" against 15 members of the Sodalitium and asked for their defrocking.
But despite more than 4,500 pages of investigation, the Superior of the Sodalitium could not find legal grounds to expel the accused from the Sodalitium, because most of the events alleged by Bertomeu had proved to be false.
Others, which happened decades ago or caused a scandal, had passed the statute of limitations and had been repaired.
Nevertheless, Bertomeu countered that the decision to expel the members had been taken and that due process was not important.
Ignoring the fact that the deadline for the defence had been extended, he expelled the 15 members "for different reasons". The reasons for the expulsions are still unknown.
There is no justification for these decisions, nor is there any legal justification: this prevents the accused from defending themselves.
Bertomeu then contacted the Apostolic Nuncio in Peru, who signed a press release written by Bertomeu.
It contained a list of names and a list of offences, without specifying who was "guilty" of which offence: "So while in the decree no one did anything, in the press releases everyone could have done anything".
Scheuch mentions two cases that show Bertomeu has even deceived his boss, Pope Francis.
The first was Bertomeu's attempt to 'excommunicate' Giuliana Caccia and Sebastián Blanco, who took Bertomeu to court for publishing their confidential statements. He used Francis to threaten them with excommunication. Two months later, however, Francis told Caccia and Blanco that he did not remember signing the decree and withdrew it.
The second case is that of the excommunication of two members of the Sodalitium, Juan Carlos Len and Father Jaime Baertl, signed by the Holy Office and approved by Francis.
But the more than 500 pages of the defence file were presented only a week earlier, during the busy days of the Synod in Rome.
There is no way that Francis or Scicluna had time to study it. And Bertomeu had no interest in reading it. That is why he obtained another signature from the Pope, with unknown arguments.
Scheuch also reveals that Bertomeu wants to enrich himself.
"He wants to charge fees, which is unusual for officials of the Holy See with a permanent post," writes Scheuch: "On the pretext of his position, which is supposed to be discreet, he charges for trips in which he tries to appear as the Pope's envoy before thousands of people, whether in the Philippines, Ecuador or Bolivia".
Jordi Bertomeu Farnós put an end to the Sodalitium "through lies, threats and manipulation", writes Scheuch: "In his wake he leaves countless lost faithful, Catholics whose rights have been violated, priests without parishes, financial promises to journalists and activists."
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