Abusos IVE y SSVM

Category: Of the administrators

  • Italian Bishops’ Conference: “Spiritual abuse; elements of recognition and context”

    Italian Bishops’ Conference: “Spiritual abuse; elements of recognition and context”

    Abuse in the ecclesial context is always spiritual

    INTRODUCTION

    The abuses of power, conscience and spirituality represent a deep wound in the Church not only for the people who suffer them, but also for the communities and institutions in which they take place. These are complex dynamics that are intertwined with trust, the role of authority and human vulnerability; they often happen in areas where relationships should be a space for growth and protection. Understanding these phenomena means going beyond appearances, grasping the systemic roots that make them possible and the devastating consequences they produce in the lives of the victims, both personally and spiritually.

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  • Victims of spiritual abuse from religious congregations: why do they prefer anonymity?

    Victims of spiritual abuse from religious congregations: why do they prefer anonymity?

    Leaving a cult is not simply moving away from a group: it is, in many cases, rebuilding oneself from scratch. Many victims of spiritual, psychological or even physical abuse by sectarian groups choose not to come forward publicly. They are often kept anonymous, and this should not be interpreted as cowardice, but as part of a deep and painful process of healing. Here we explore the most frequent reasons behind this decision.

    1. Shame and internalized guilt

    Cults are experts in emotional manipulation. One of their most effective tactics is to make the victim feel that what they are experiencing is their fault. Even after leaving, many people feel ashamed of “having fallen,” preferring to keep silent to avoid external judgment.

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  • RedUNE (Spain): “Institute of the Incarnate Word: testimony and denunciation”

    RedUNE (Spain): “Institute of the Incarnate Word: testimony and denunciation”

    We reproduce here an article published on the website of RedUNE (Network for the Prevention of Sectarianism and Abuse of Weakness). The original article can be found here.

    At the age of 18 she entered the Institute of Religious SERVANTS OF THE LORD AND THE VIRGIN OF MATARÁ, belonging to the Congregation of the Incarnate Word, after the years of initiation into religious life as a novitiate and student body (carried out in Brazil and Argentina). Later she was sent to Spain in 2004, remaining in that religious Institute from 2004 to 2018.

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  • Article by 3cat.cat (Spain): “This is how the IVE congregation acts, accused of manipulating girls in Vic and Girona: ‘If necessary, escape from home'”

    Article by 3cat.cat (Spain): “This is how the IVE congregation acts, accused of manipulating girls in Vic and Girona: ‘If necessary, escape from home’”


    After years of accumulating complaints, Pope Francis has removed the leadership of the congregation, founded 40 years ago by a man convicted of sexual abuse

    Marta Freixanet/Ferran Moreno (16/01/2025 – Updated 17/04/2025)

    “The message didn’t say anything, just a location.” And yet, Adriana was clear: her sister had gotten into trouble. He did not hesitate and took the first flight to come and help him. He traveled from the United States to Manresa, a place he had never heard of. The surprise was even greater when he saw that the address was from the parish of La Merced de Manresa .

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  • Ephebophilia in the Case of Cardinal McCarrick and Father Carlos Buela: A Focus on Seminarians

    Ephebophilia, understood as the sexual attraction of adults to adolescents in middle or late stages (usually between 14 and 21 years old), has been a sensitive issue in the Catholic Church, especially in cases such as those of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Father Carlos Buela. Both clerics faced allegations of sexual misconduct directed primarily at seminarians, a vulnerable group due to the power dynamics and trust in the religious context. This article discusses these cases, focusing on seminarians as victims.

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  • Psychologist Marcos Randle and the Institute of the Incarnate Word

    Psychologist Marcos Randle and the Institute of the Incarnate Word

    We publish here an anonymous testimonial left on our blog that reflects information that we have been receiving in recent years.

    I was a seminarian at the “Finca”*. They squeezed me with the schedules (as well as me, everyone). I was exploited with jobs, since I was in charge of many things, and I hardly had time to study, and sometimes to sleep. I could no longer pray, because of the stress and anxiety I was enduring due to the sickly rhythm of that asylum (and not a Catholic seminary).

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  • Reminder: Why did we create this blog?

    Reminder: Why did we create this blog?

    This blog is born out of a moral urgency and a deep need for truth. Incarnate Word – SSVM – Abuse is not a project of hatred or revenge: it is a response to years of silence, cover-up and silenced suffering within the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) and the Servants of the Lord and of the Virgin of Matará (SSVM).

    Those of us who have lived or continue to live from the inside the reality of these institutes know first-hand what does not appear on their official pages or in their public speeches: authoritarian practices, psychological control, distorted spirituality, manipulation of consciences, and in many cases, abuses of power, conscience and even sexual abuse.

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  • “It hurts and shames us”: The Pope suppresses the women’s branch of the Sodalitium of Christian Life (Diario “El Debate” [Spain])

    “It hurts and shames us”: The Pope suppresses the women’s branch of the Sodalitium of Christian Life (Diario “El Debate” [Spain])

    Article originally published in El Debate on April 7, 2025.

    The decision responds to decades of abuses of power, spiritual manipulation and financial scandals within their communities

    By María Rabell García (Correspondent in Rome and the Vatican of “El Debate”)

    By decision of Pope Francis, the Holy See has decreed the definitive suppression of the Public Association of Faithful Servants of God’s Plan, one of the female branches born of the Sodalitium of Christian Life and founded by the Peruvian Luis Fernando Figari.

    This measure, executed by a decree of the dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, is part of the process of dissolution of all the works promoted by Figari, who has been accused for years of abuses of power, conscience and sexual abuses, as well as financial irregularities.

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  • McCarrick and the IVE: An Uneasy Relationship

    McCarrick and the IVE: An Uneasy Relationship

    On April 3, 2025, former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick died at the age of 94. His death closes a dark stage in the recent history of the Catholic Church in the United States, but it also invites us to turn our gaze to its protective environment, its network of allies and beneficiaries. Among them, a congregation that our readers know well: the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE), founded by Carlos Miguel Buela in Argentina in 1984.

    The relationship between McCarrick and the IVE was not superficial or merely diplomatic. It involved direct financial support, participation in key institutional events, shared accommodation with seminarians. This article compiles public sources to critically examine this alliance.

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  • What future for the priests of the Institute of the Incarnate Word in the event of a dissolution?

    What future for the priests of the Institute of the Incarnate Word in the event of a dissolution?

    This article comes in the wake of numerous comments from concerned people, both inside and outside the Institute of the Incarnate Word, who seek to understand what may happen if the Vatican decides to dissolve it.

    What does a canonical dissolution mean?

    The dissolution of an institute of consecrated life is an extreme measure that is taken only when it is considered that the aims of the institute have been irreversibly distorted or that it has become harmful to its members or to the Church itself. According to the Code of Canon Law (canon 584), it is for the Holy See alone to dissolve an institute of pontifical right. It should be noted that the IVE, so far, has not been erected as an institute of pontifical right, so its eventual formal dissolution would follow a different procedure, although equally supervised by the Holy See. In some cases, reform has been chosen (as happened with the Legionaries of Christ); in others, suppression has been inevitable.

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