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We reproduce here the article by IDEAL de Granada, published on February 5, 2025. The authors are Pilar García-Trevijano and M. Victoria Cobo.

GRENADE. The Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) is a religious order of Argentine origin, ultra-Catholic and critical of the current leadership of the Church that landed in Granada in 2010. The previous archbishop, Francisco Javier Martínez, authorized them to manage the parish of Santo Ángel Custodio del Zaidín and the adjoining parish house at a time when there is a lack of vocations to keep the temples open. His activity in the province had gone unnoticed by those outside the temple until a few months ago. Some parishioners have denounced the order and one of its priests to the Archbishopric for alleged abuses of power, improper handling of money, manipulation or the practice of esoteric rites and exorcisms without permission.

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One of the most disturbing practices observed in the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) and the Servants of the Lord and of the Virgin of Matará (SSVM) is the dynamic of “love bombing” during recruitment, followed by a total abandonment of those who decide to leave the institute. This strategy, typical of organizations with sectarian dynamics, illustrates how they emotionally manipulate people to ensure their loyalty, while dehumanizing those who choose to step aside.

Love bombing: the initial trap

In the recruitment process, both the IVE and the SSVM display intense emotional attention towards new applicants. This practice involves bombarding them with praise, affection, and promises, creating an atmosphere of unconditional acceptance. Aspirants are persuaded that they have been “chosen by God” and that their vocation is a unique and inalienable calling.

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Operation Paperclip

Operation Paperclip, carried out by the United States after World War II, consisted of recruiting German scientists who had worked for the Nazi regime and had been involved in war crimes or weapons developments for the Third Reich. The U.S. government decided to draft them rather than prosecute them, due to the urgent need to advance the technological race against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Although the U.S. government was aware of the troubled background of these scientists, it “turned a blind eye” because of the strategic advantages they offered.

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In turn, the priest Héctor Luna (IVE) is removed for serious immoral conduct.

Fr. Héctor Luna (IVE)

On July 19, 2024, the parishioners witnessed the sudden disappearance of parochial vicar Father Héctor Luna (IVE), who left abruptly and without making a sound. However, what the parishioners did not know was that Father Luna should immediately take refuge in a monastery or another distant place.

The reason for his flight was a letter he had received from the Institute for the Doctrine of the Faith, in which he was forbidden to have contact with lay people, administer the sacraments and warned that his situation exposed him to excommunication from the Catholic Church and reduced to the lay state.

Why did the Church act so harshly? What did this priest do? Why did his parish priest, Fr. José Luis Lochedino, and his superiors allow him to cause so much damage?

History

In 2010, the Archdiocese of Granada entrusted the Institute of the Incarnate Word with the care of the “Santo Ángel Custodio” Parish in the Zaidín neighborhood, Granada, Spain. The hope was that his presence would spiritually enrich the community, but it seems that it only served to enrich the Institute of the Incarnate Word and the SSVM financially.

Since 2013, Father Héctor Luna, IVE assumed the position of parochial vicar of this parish (he arrived from Ecuador, where he had already had some problems). Although he was noted for his activism and apostolate, he also showed a tendency to manipulate people to get what he wanted. His obsession with the devil and the dark led him to perform alleged exorcisms and prayers of liberation without permission from the diocese, according to the latter.

Through these practices, he contacted vulnerable victims, whom he had to “cleanse spiritually” and, according to testimonies, also physically. It has been discovered that he engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with some of them, even exchanging photos of high sexual content while they were in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. He even confessed to his own victims after having had relations with them.

The local Church took action on this and denounced everything to Rome, which is acting. In addition, the Diocese opened an investigation into this parish due to complaints of various kinds, such as:

• Mishandling of money: The Institute of the Incarnate Word has adopted the habit of asking for money for everything, beyond the salaries they receive from the diocese. As the money is sent to the congregation in Rome, everything that the religious need for their daily lives, such as food and clothing, must be donated. Both they and the SSVM, which also have convents of apostolic and contemplative life in these areas, are accustomed to constantly asking the community. The nuns ask for everything from beers and party favors for private parties to money for frequent trips, with the excuse that they belong to a very poor congregation.
• Breach of trust: Fr. Héctor Luna collected large sums of money and received donations of apartments and thousands of euros, which the congregation accepted despite knowing that the priest was facing problems that made them doubt his psychological state. Granada was a good source of income for the IVE, and therefore everything seemed to be allowed.

The parish priest, Father José Luis Lochedino, IVE, collected money to change their vehicles, while asking people to collaborate with food. There were days when they said that the nuns did not have enough to eat, but on birthdays they gave smart watches and other luxury objects. These inconsistencies increased suspicions.

• Manipulation: Since his arrival, the IVE has been in charge of indoctrinating parishioners with biased information that is far from reality. For years, they exalted the holiness and goodness of their founder, Fr. Carlos Miguel Buela, despite the fact that there were allegations of sexual abuse against him.

The IVE presented itself as the savior of a progressive and corrupt church. Their strategy was to expand constantly, trying to gain control of schools and other works of the diocese. According to them, the only way to avoid the closure of these institutions was to found new convents everywhere, so that the bishops, in the absence of vocations, would support them and put pressure on the Vatican not to close the congregation.

Complicit and corrupt superiors

Father José Vicchi, provincial superior of these communities for years, not only knew about the situation, since the laity told him about it, but also has serious suspicions of manipulation of vocations and unseemly treatment of women. Currently, he replaces Father Héctor Luna.

“His treatment is arrogant, alluding to the fact that he comes from a family where there are three brothers (two priests and a nun), and that his older brother governed the IVE from the top, which makes him untouchable and arrogant in the eyes of other religious,” commented a witness from the community.

Current situation

Today, the community of Granada faces a divided parish. A parish priest forbids parishioners to ask or talk about Fr. Héctor Luna, without having asked for forgiveness or explained the truth. At the same time, he defends his congregation and its founder, claiming that any action taken by Rome is due to a “progressive church” that persecutes them.

Many victims of different abuses (economic, conscience, sexual, vocational, etc.) are coming to the diocese to give their testimony, trusting that the Church that Christ preached will take action in this regard.

We reproduce here an article published by “Vida Nueva Digital” on the dissolution of the Sodalitiums of Christian Life.

Pope Francis has ordered the suppression of the Sodalitium of Christian Life due to the serious cases of abuse of all kinds committed by its founder and the top management, as well as the innumerable economic corruptions linked to this ecclesial platform. This Monday, January 20, the entity itself, present in 45 countries, publicly communicated the dissolution.

Vida Nueva reviews the main milestones of this Catholic organization, one of the most influential in Latin America in the last forty years, which is now facing its end.

1/ The birth of the organization (1971-1980)

On December 8, 1971, the Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari founded the Sodalitium of Christian Life, together with Sergio Tapia, Gerald Haby and students of the Marist School of San Isidro. Apparently he bases his ideas on Blessed Guillermo José Chaminade, several church fathers and relevant Spanish religious of the Modern Age, but the reality is that behind him hides the ideology of the Falange and a desire to transfer the being and doing of Primo de Rivera to Peru dressed in an ecclesial mantle. Its approach to governance is vertical in nature and falls to a superior general elected every six years by a general assembly. In 1978, after growing through the youth apostolate, he began the University Missions, today part of the Christian Life Movement for the spiritual collaboration of rural and marginal urban areas.

2/ Internationalization (1981-1990)

In 1981, the Archbishop of Arequipa ordained the organization’s first priest, Jaime Baertl. Only five years later, the cardinal and archbishop of Rio de Janeiro Eugênio de Araújo Sales invited the Sodalitium to start its first community outside Peru, in Brazil. The Sodalitium manages the parish of Nossa Senhora da Guía, in the favela area. At the end of the decade, the organization expanded to Colombia by taking over a parish at the request of the Archbishop of Medellín, Alfonso López Trujillo. A second community is also created in the city of Petrópolis, in Brazil, which collaborates with the youth apostolate and solidarity care.

3/ The zenith of the Sodalitium (1991-2000)

In 1992, the organization founded a community in the diocese of Santo Amaro, in the city of São Paulo in Brazil. It is the precedent to the first great milestone of the institution. On February 22, 1994, the Sodalitium was erected as a society of apostolic life of diocesan right by the cardinal and archbishop of Lima, Augusto Vargas. In December, the First Ordinary General Assembly of the entity is held. Two years later, the organization created its first region, Peru, which includes the jurisdictions of Lima, Callao, Chosica, Lurín and Arequipa. In December, following the creation of the Diocese of Chosica, the parish of Our Lady of the Cross was erected and entrusted to the Sodalitium. And, a year later, the Brazil region was created with communities in Rio de Janeiro, Santo Amaro (in São Paulo), and Petrópolis. On July 8, Pope John Paul II approved the institution as a society of lay apostolic life of pontifical right, dependent on the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. On October 28, the Sodalitium founded the center Nostra Signora dell’Evangelizzazione in Rome. It is the organization’s first community outside of the Americas. He also created the San Pablo Catholic University in Arequipa. In January 1999, the organization created the Nuestra Señora del Carmen community in Chile. A year later, the entity is denounced by the journalist and former member José Enrique Escardó in his weekly column of the magazine Gente for psychological and physical abuse during the time he lived in the communities of the Sodalitium.

4/ The first complaints (2001-2010)

In 2001, the Sodalitium created the Colombia region, comprising the jurisdictions of Medellín, Cali and Bogotá. A year later, there is an increase in the power of the organization. In addition to settling in Guayaquil, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani ordained José Antonio Eguren, the first member of the organization at the top of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, to be auxiliary bishop of Lima. In July 2006, Eguren was appointed archbishop of Piura, creating new communities for the Sodalitium in this city and in Ayaviri. In 2007, in Lima, the police found the sodalite Daniel Murguía in a hotel with an eleven-year-old boy whom he was going to photograph naked. He was expelled from society and imprisoned. Three years later, the accusations of abuses around the Sodalitium are intensifying. The Church suspends the beatification of Germán Doig, who had been vicar general of the organization, when several testimonies emerge that incriminate him in these practices. The organization removed all mention of this Peruvian layman, who died in 2001. In December 2010, Figari, the founder of Sodalitium, resigned from the position of superior general for ‘health reasons’.

5/ Sexual abuse and land trafficking (2011-2015)

In August 2011, a Lima newspaper reported allegations against Figari for sexual abuse. In 2015, journalists Pedro Salinas, a former member of the Sodalitium, and Paola Ugaz published the book Half Monks, Half Soldiers, in which they narrate the sexual, physical and psychological abuse carried out by Figari, Doig and other members of the leadership on several people in the organization. The founder acknowledged excesses in the training but denied sexual abuse. Regarding Eguren, the book indicated a plot of land trafficking in the city of Piura carried out by the criminal organization ‘La Gran Cruz’ in collusion with a Sodalitium company. On April 22, the Holy See appointed an apostolic visitor to investigate the allegations. The Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation in October to do the same. A month later, the Peruvian Episcopal Conference rejected any type of abuse and offered to collaborate with the Justice.

6/ The condemnation of the leaders (2015-2020)

The reporters who revealed the facts were denounced for serious defamation, within. On April 5, 2016, the superior general of the Sodalitium, Alessandro Moroni, declared Figari morally guilty of the accusations and declared him persona non grata for the institution. The Holy See, for its part, appointed the Cardinal Archbishop of Indianapolis, Joseph William Tobin, as delegate ad nutum of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life for the Sodalitium of Christian Life to support the superior general and the government of the entity, among other aspects, in the Figari case. In February 2017, Figari was exclaustrated from the properties of the Sodalitium by papal order accused of sexual abuse and repeated misdemeanours, arriving in Rome. The Sodalitium published a report with the abuses of various kinds committed by its founder from 1974 to 2010. At the end of that year, the judge asked for nine months of preventive detention for Figari and three other former members of the entity, related to sexual abuse. A month later, the Peruvian Association of Atheists asked the pope, during his visit to Lima, to allow the founder of the Sodalitium to return to Peru to answer for his charges.

7/ Dissolution and repair (2020-2025)

In 2021, the Peruvian newspaper La República reported on the sale of a mansion by Figari, through intermediary companies, where, apparently, part of the abuses took place. In 2023, a high-level pontifical commission, initialed by papal order and made up of bishops Charles Scicluna and Jordi Bertomeu, conducted an investigation into the case that ended on August 14, 2024. Faced with the conclusions, the pope decreed the expulsion of Figari from the Sodalitium for canonical crimes and damage to the good of the Church. On April 2, Eguren had requested his resignation from the bishopric in view of the seriousness of the accusations against him. On November 2, both this prelate and other members of the leadership of the entity were expelled from the organization. On January 18, 2025, the Sodalitium was dissolved by the Vatican in the face of complaints and irregularities found in the organization.

In the latest decree sent to the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) by the Dicastery for Consecrated Life, a shocking fact is mentioned: since its inception, the IVE has lost almost 40% of its priests. However, after an exhaustive collection of data, an even more alarming reality emerges: the real percentage of abandonment amounts to 50%, a figure that has been increasing in recent years.

Of the 265 priests ordained since the foundation of the institute until 2003, only 123 currently remain in the IVE. Of the rest, 139 have dropped out of high school. Of these, 73 left the priestly ministry completely, while 65 continue to exercise their vocation outside the IVE.

A deeper analysis

Among the 123 priests who remain inside the institute, a worrying situation is observed. Some face psychiatric treatment or alcoholism-related problems. Others are housed in monasteries or self-help homes due to serious moral problems. In addition, there are cases of allegations of abuse and situations in which the institute has assumed the maintenance of legitimate children born in hiding.

On the other hand, there is a small group of priests sincerely dedicated to the mission, who, despite their dedication, face great challenges. These missionaries work virtually alone, with loads of continuous stress due to the demands of their work. Many of them suffer from illnesses related to these conditions or take refuge in the narrative of “resisting the progressivism of the Church,” as they are instructed, without complaining or sharing their difficulties for fear of being considered “bad spirit” or as opponents of the charism of the institute.

For the interested reader: detailed statistics

For readers interested in corroborating this data, we offer a statistical breakdown by each year of ordinations and the current status of priests related to IVE. This information will be published soon in order to provide greater clarity on this problem and to encourage a critical analysis of the situation.

In order not to extend ourselves into endless lists, we avoid detailing the specific cases of those members who, despite maintaining judicial or ecclesiastical complaints, still remain in the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE). However, this reality is undeniable and generates deep concern.

The case of SSVM: a silent phenomenon

Even more worrying is the situation of the Servants of the Lord and of the Virgin of Matará (SSVM), who have experienced an even higher rate of abandonment. Due to the absence of direct ecclesiastical control in the dioceses where they operate, these cases go unnoticed. Many religious return home after 20 or 30 years of consecrated life, while young vocations who enter are also unable to persevere over time. After 35 years of its foundation, the institute has few older sisters, a fact that reflects the difficulties in vocational stability.

A call for reflection

The Church has shown remarkable patience in the face of this situation, allowing vocations, entrusted by God to the institute, to be seriously affected. While the IVE laments the closure of its novitiates, it seems to ignore the impact of the human and spiritual losses that have occurred during its history, as well as the state in which many of these people have left the institute.

We reproduce here an article published by the Diario San Rafael yesterday, Friday, January 17, 2025.

This morning on Fm Vos 94.5, which together with Diario San Rafael are part of the leading media in southern Mendoza, interviewed on the program Buen Día, Día, in charge of the announcer Sergio González Ramos, a former seminarian who was a victim of sexual abuse when he was 12 years old (in the early 90s) committed by a priest and also denounced the complicity of the rest of the priests to cover up these aberrant crimes at the Minor Seminary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, located at 5500 Rawson Avenue, past the train tracks.

On Tuesday the 14th, Diario San Rafael and different media around the world published the news that through two decrees the Vatican announced the intervention of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, both in its male and female branches. The Catholic agency reported that “this decision aims to promote the formation, discipline and leadership of institutes and to support them in their missionary orientation.”

As a result of this, two “papal delegates” were appointed to accompany the religious communities “Institute of the Incarnate Word” and “Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará”, both of which arose in San Rafael, Mendoza and with an important representation in different parts of the world.

Despite the presence throughout the globe where the IVE institutes are present, the provision pays “special” attention to the headquarters of Velletri-Segni (Italy) and San Rafael (Argentina).

This congregation was founded by Father Carlos Buela, accused of repeated sexual abuse against seminarians. The IVE is of a missionary nature, that is, most of the nuns and priests who were formed in San Rafael, Mendoza, as one of the main points and in other seminaries of the world, have a missionary character, that means that once ordained they are sent to different parts of the world.

Related to the terrible sexual abuse and based on the note published by Diario San Rafael about the intervention of the IVE, a listener of Fm Vos 94.5 and reader of Diario San Rafael, communicated by whatsapp to tell the abuse suffered when he was a seminarian. To preserve his identity, which he voluntarily communicated with our media, we will use the pseudonym “Juan”.

Below is the crude story that for the first time “Juan” tells about what he experienced at the IVE Minor Seminary, San Rafael, Mendoza.

Fm Vos
– Specifically, when we received your message, which is very strong, he says, “I wanted to communicate with you about the note on the Incarnate Word because I am a victim that you silenced.” Well, obviously it caught our attention and we immediately established contact through his request. Please tell us and the audience your story and why you considered yourself a victim who was silenced.

“Juan”
– I don’t know if I’m allowed to give names because, as I also said in the message, there are many complicities in the middle as well. There are priests who are working in other parts of the world and others who asked to leave and others who died. I consider myself a victim because I remember, not the exact date, but the historical moment that was the Gulf War, it was in January, I remember.

Fm Vos
– Yes, early 90s.

“Juan”
–Exactly. We had vacations in January.

Fm Vos
“Excuse me, were you a seminarian?”

“Juan”
“Exactly, minor seminarian. We San Rafaelians or the people who are from Mendoza Capital stay to take care of the Seminary for a week to maintain it. At that time I was on duty and I was a victim, I was 12 years old at the time. I was twice a victim of the director of the Minor Seminary at that time, who is still a priest, Father Luis Ceferino Flores, who committed not only the crime of sexual abuse of me in particular, but of five other minors, and he did it by repeating it for five more years. And I speak of complicity because I spoke with a former priest, whose family has a well-known pharmacy in San Rafael, and then also with a priest also deceased with the surname Guillermo Costantini. Father Guillermo Costantini and the priest who has his parents with a well-known pharmacy in San Rafael, knew about the situation, they managed to make me emphasize in my mind, in my conscience, that I was the one to blame, that I was the one who promoted sexual abuse. I remember one day that after an abuse by Father Lucio Flores, I wanted to escape from the seminary. Both Costantini and Father Lucio begin to look for me. I particularly hid in a pantry that we had inside the Seminary, I hid there and they both talked about how they had to grab me. They literally never said they had to talk to me, or anything like that. Until one Thursday they decided to take me out, while my classmates were playing sports, they decided to take me out of the seminary and took me home. A couple of more months, obviously it was shocking, because for me the vocation was closed and I have these facts currently on the surface, although a lot of time has passed. Later, I went to talk to Father Buela, in the Major Seminary, to ask for help, from which I received the same situation with proposals that did not correspond to a 13-year-old boy at that time.

Fm Vos
– That is, let me say that when you go to talk to Father Carlos Buela, a priest who died in 2023 and founder of the congregation, did he also make a dishonest proposal?

“Juan”
– Yes, absolutely. At that time I was 13, 14 years old. A child and had nowhere to turn. Later, Father Guillermo Costantini began to make a personal persecution of me. I went to a parish that is on 3 de Febrero Street, which belongs to the congregation.

Fm Vos
– The parish of San Maximiliano Kolbe.

“Juan”
– I met the director of the seminary on Tirasso Street, I told him about the situation and they accepted me into the seminary.

Fm Vos
– The Santa María Madre de Dios seminary, founded by Monsignor León Kruk, until it was closed by Bishop Taussig, for other reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with this. It was the seminary that at the beginning also sheltered Father Buela, right?

“Juan”
–Exactly. So, every time someone went from high school to the seminary, they practically hid me, because they already knew of the persecutions to which I was subjected. And I was not yet 15 years old. Until one day I was with a classmate playing ping-pong and Father Guillermo Costantini fell into the seminary, he called me aside, threatened me, and after a day they took me out of the seminary. That is why also in the message I sent them I said complicities. The act itself that he committed in the Minor Seminary was Father Lucio Ceferino Flores, from whom I never heard absolutely anything about any case of punishment. Father Buela was stripped of his priestly powers, detained in a retirement home in Italy. Later, since he was forbidden to approach the institute, he directed the congregation from Chile. He went to Chile and there he continued to give directives to the directors of the Institute of the Incarnate Word. Later, the Vatican takes cognizance. And he stops it again.
And it really is the first time from the year 90 to the present day that I can manifest what I am manifesting. I know I’m a big man, but it’s the first time someone has taken the trouble to listen to me and pay attention to me. It was my childhood. They killed my vocation. And it is not an exaggeration. They destroyed a part of my innocence.
Father Lucio, after he committed the abuse, went to a nearby parish, to Our Lady of the Valley to go to confession. He did it with many boys, repeatedly, evidently abusing his power as a superior in turn. And of children who were not fully aware of what was happening. I tried to seek help from all forces and everything else. It was like touching something untouchable, which was at that time Father Buela. And talk about Lucio Ceferino Flores, who was later transferred to Taiwan, to the island specifically to Taipei, as if to try to hide it. But Lucio Ceferino Flores never had anything. He never had a punishment, he never had a reprimand. And all this with the full knowledge of Father Buela, that is, it is not only that Father Buela is the center of the allegations of abuse, but that there were also other priests who also committed them and never came to light, because they were accomplices of this situation. Thanks to you, at least one direct victim has a voice, has a voice to tell details and details and details and details. For example, in the month of February we spent the entire month in a house that the seminary had in El Nihuil, and within that month we spent a week in the Atuel Canyon. You go through the Atuel Canyon halfway from El Nihuil to Valle Grande on the left hand side, currently there is an abandoned house that is destroyed. At that time that house was whole. We did it on foot, so it was six, seven hours walking. Father Buela continued to commit abuses there.

Fm Vos
“And that in what year?”

“Juan”
– 90, 91, 92, 93… he continued to commit abuses and went to the small town of El Nihuil on foot, which is more than 20 kilometers away, evidently he hitchhiked, confessed and returned. But he confessed, but that same night he committed the acts again. I want to explain this so that the citizens of San Rafael do not believe that what the Vatican is committing is a house of witches, which is not a lie, but at the same time I am aware, because I was hospitalized there, that there are many holy, noble priests, who faithfully comply with what God entrusted to them, such as the Sisters of the Lord and the Virgin of Mataras. which worldwide are examples of many things, of holiness specifically. And on the issue of abuse, I want the citizens of San Rafael to be aware that the priests, with the complicity of two others, committed disastrous acts, both in the city of San Rafael, and in the case of the priest who has his parents, who has a pharmacy, he is also an accomplice, because he kept quiet, hid and took me out. There was a time when the congregation wanted to promote Father Guillermo Costantini to be a servant of God, which is the first step towards sanctification. I’m talking about four years ago, obviously those of us who were in the seminary for minors made a WhatsApp group and that’s where I said such a thing about Father Guillermo Costantini, which is what I just said, that he was an accomplice to the abuse of minors and received insults from priests who are in Africa, for example, whose brother is the current rector general of the institute. They are two brothers, the brother who is in Africa, for example, insulted me a lot when he was a priest, and not having the ability as a human to put himself in the shoes of the person who is suffering and took the side of the people who committed crimes, and not common crimes. To this day, every time I remember, it saddens me greatly, and they instill in you so much that you were to blame, that you were the one to blame, that you were the one who sexually provoked them. Today, more or less years have passed, one continues with that anguish. You say, why didn’t I do such a thing? Why didn’t I walk away? Why didn’t I leave? Why didn’t I speak? Why not? Because they had a fairly important power of persuasion. Both Father Costantini and Father Lucio had a power of persuasion to make you feel guilty. They insulted you, even within the confession they insulted you, they treated you as a provocateur. And for a 12, 13-year-old boy that is engraved in his soul. No matter how much time has passed, it remains engraved in the soul. But I want to highlight the following. Within the Institute, most of the priests are holy priests. I am aware that there are priests who are worthy of being religious, as if also the sisters, but unfortunately it is the fault of this group of people, the congregation is as it is. I still believe that I do it unconsciously, I feel, as I just said, he had a mental lapse and I said, we have, I still feel identified even though a little more than 35 years have passed since the situation. Through this medium, if the pontifical commissioners who are in the institute because of the intervention of this medium want to communicate, not to seek revenge or revenge, but to give information, I volunteer because I specifically want Father Lucio to stop doing what he is doing at this moment.

Fm Vos
“I ask you a question. When you refer to Father Costantini, who died many years ago, do you also involve him in issues of abuse or complicity so that the abuse would not be known?

“Juan”
– Complicity because Father Lucio confesses to him. I also remember the night, I hid where we had the pigs behind.
They went to look for me there, then they went to look for me in the farms we had, until I went into the pantry and then they went into Father Costantini’s bedroom and talked about how they had to lock me, literally. And then they invented a health problem that I had and waited on a Thursday at 9.20 in the morning hidden from my colleagues who were doing sports. But my idea is, as I said at the beginning, it’s not to seek revenge or revenge. I am a big man, with clear things and with a defined north. I just want Father Lucio to stop doing the things he’s doing. He continues with his own things, he is also in charge of minors, that he has an important group of minors of whom he is in charge, not in the country. Father Guillermo died. The other priest asked to be discharged. I don’t know the reason, the reason, I’m not interested either.

Fm Vos
– Are you referring in that case to the priest whose parents have a pharmacy here in San Rafael?

“Juan”
-Yes, it is north of San Rafael along an important avenue. He was also an accomplice because he also knew about the situation and he was one of the ones who treated me the worst. On the part of Father Guillermo nor on the part of this priest there was never physical violence, but verbal and psychological violence.

Fm Vos
– What did you do with your life after what you have just told us? Studied? Did he get married? Without telling us particular questions but how you were able to process all this and reassemble your personality and your life to get to this moment when you decide to talk to Fm Vos 94.5 and Diario San Rafael.

“Juan”
– Yes, I decided to speak because you opened the door, that is, you were the only ones I saw who opened the door by publishing, it is not the first time you have published it, situations of the Institute of the Incarnate Word. I particularly followed a normal, common life, I got married, I didn’t decide to have children. My wife accepted the situation. I am a university professor, I am a psychologist, and I especially give help here in the Capital, I help minors. I’m going to put it in the school aspect, for elementary school children and children up to 15 years old, give them tools. Psychological tools, obviously to know how to distinguish if an unknown person is within a meter and a half of distance, it is a distance that I do not have to allow. No one I don’t know can touch my body. Only teachers and family members can cross that limit of one and a half meters.
I do it for free even if I have my private practice. The rest of the talks, specifically in Capital, Godoy Cruz, Las Heras, Guaymallén.

Fm Vos
– Do you live in Mendoza, currently Mendoza capital?

“Juan”
–Yes. Several times I wanted to go and speak here in San Martín and Zapata, there is the church of the Jesuits. But I had the unfounded fear that they would try to blame me again knowing today, as a big man, that it was not like that. Today, professionally, I know that this is not the case. And I repeat that my main idea is that there should be no more children, no more adolescents abused as Father Buela did with the older seminarians who were sexually abused with boys of 18, 20 years old, 21 years old, because they are still adolescents at that age. Even if one legally becomes of legal age. Regarding Father Buela he is no longer there but Father Lucio continues. I don’t want those children, I don’t have the power to go to where he is right now to say, that’s it, to… And coincidentally, the current rector of the Seminary knows the situation, because the brother told him. The brother, when, as I just mentioned, I commented on it in the Whatsapp group, was the one who insulted me the most.

Fm Vos
– Do you want to make known the name or surname of these two priests or do you prefer to keep it confidential?

“Juan”
– No, no, I prefer to keep it confidential and let the papal commissioners who are now aware of the situation. One of them is in Africa, one of the brothers is in Africa, and the other is the current rector of the seminary. I don’t know if you know him or if you know his last name. He knows fully about the situation, like his brother who is in Africa, who was also, when I commented on it in the WhatsApp group, the one who insulted me the most and the first to leave. But from now on I want to thank you, the production, the radio, the management of the radio I want to say thank you. Thank you because, as I said in the message, thank you for giving me a voice, thank you for listening to me, thank you so that the people of San Rafael knew from someone directly affected what was happening there. I am particularly convinced that if these characters had not been there at that time, I would be a priest today, with my soul totally proud of the things I could have done. My colleagues, many colleagues left because of this situation. I am in full contact with the victims of sexual abuse by Father Lucio. And we are already grown up and what we don’t want is for them to continue doing them just again. I repeat my huge thanks to you, for letting me have a voice in this situation.

Fm Vos
– We are grateful first for the courage of your testimony. You, evidently, in telling this, are bringing something out of you very, very, very deep. We thank you for choosing us as a means to be vehicles of this witness. Of course, we remain at your and whoever else’s disposal because of this situation. Only the truth makes us free, only the truth. And the truth begins to manifest itself when someone decides to tell the truth of things. And we think it is very brave of him because we imagine that he will have faced himself with a very difficult situation. Bringing this to light, after many years, we are talking about the beginning of the 90’s, must have been very difficult for you. We understand this perfectly.

Once again, the Institute of the Incarnate Word is at the center of controversy, this time in the figure of the controversial preacher Gustavo Lombardo and his supposed mentor in the shadows, Father Gustavo Nieto.

The Vicar for the Clergy of the Diocese of Phoenix, in the United States, confirmed in a letter that Father Gustavo Lombardo did not have authorization from the diocese to exercise the ministry. In addition, it was pointed out that his presence for the performance of spiritual exercises had not been notified to the bishop.

The Vicar also reported that he had communicated with the Provincial Superior, as no priest can carry out spiritual exercises in the diocese without the express permission of Bishop Dolan.

He also conveyed to the Provincial his concern about the activities of Father Lombardo in Spain, urging the Institute to review this matter.

The shadow of disobedience

It is striking that the parish where this lack of transparency has been committed has Father Gustavo Nieto, former Superior General of the IVE, as Parochial Vicar. It should be remembered that he was removed from his position by the Pontifical Commissioner, who requested that he disassociate himself from any government figure.

However, it seems that this request was not fulfilled, as evidenced by the recent foundation of the Shrine of the Baptism of the Lord in Jordan.

The former Superior General and his former government leadership traveled directly to receive the Shrine of the Baptism of the Lord on behalf of the Institute, without any authorization.

This fact reflects their persistent influence in the shadows, as they continue to exert control over the institution and act on its behalf.

Worrying patterns

This behavior seems to be repeated among the members of the Institute. An example of this is Father Lombardo, who carries out spiritual exercises without due permission. The Parish Priest, Father José Sylvester, also participates in this dynamic, a young priest who shows loyalty to Father Gustavo Nieto, who serves as Vicar.

The lack of transparency with the local bishop is worrying and is justified, apparently, under the argument of protecting the congregation from alleged unjust persecution.

This pattern of action is replicated in other priests of the Institute in different parts of the world.

What we hoped was going to happen is happening. The IVE and the SSVM continue to speak of “persecution”, etc. We would like to suggest a letter to be sent quickly to the members to avoid closure in two or three years’ time.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Along with Fathers Gonzalo Ruiz, Diego Pombo, Ricardo Clarey, Gabriel Zapata
Elvio Fontana, Miguel Fuentes, Jorge Montagna, Alberto Barattero, Daniel Cima and Carlos Walker, we address all of you in a fraternal spirit.

We are at a time of special importance for our beloved Religious Family. The recent decision of the Holy See to appoint Apostolic Delegates for the Institute of the Incarnate Word and the Servants of the Lord and of Our Lady of Matará challenges us all to a profound examination of conscience and spiritual renewal.

As children of the Church, we are called to welcome these decisions with faith and humility, trusting that the Lord, in his infinite wisdom, leads our history towards a greater good. In the face of this situation, I feel in my heart the strong desire to invite you to a day of penance and metanoia in all our provinces. We see in this punishment of the Holy See the ultimatum to convert us from our sin and to adhere from our hearts to the heart of the Church.

The day of penance will take place next Friday, uniting us in prayer and sacrifice in each of our communities. During this day, with the other members of this caste with whom we have been conspiring together with the late Father Buela, of dear memory, we invite you to:

1. To celebrate the Eucharist with special intention for the unity and fidelity of our Religious Family.
2. Participate in a Holy Hour of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, asking the Lord for light and strength.
3. Fasting
4. Abstaining from alcoholic beverages during the “Beato Pro” (I suggest substitution for chamomile tea)
5. Refrain from gossiping (“fragote”) in email and social networks

For 30 years, since the first commissariat, we have resisted the Holy Spirit, we have murmured against the Vatican, and we have been arrogant, believing ourselves superior to the rest of the Church. This is the time to acknowledge our faults and open our hearts to God’s transforming grace.

Despite professing verbal obedience to the Pope and the Church, in our actions we have always used our “creole liveliness” to do the opposite behind the scenes.

We must humbly accept that Carlos Buela has been a great sinner. And at the same time we must press forward with the charism that God has entrusted to us, redoubling our efforts to live it with authenticity and holiness.

In the spirit of this holy Jubilee of Hope, we ask forgiveness from the hundreds of victims of our pride, especially men and women religious, whom we have vilified, slandered, soiled, humiliated. In the spirit of the Jubilee, we extend our hand to you and we want to invite you to come to us to obtain reparation in justice.

Brothers and sisters, the world needs our witness of love and faithfulness.

May this day of penance be a seed of spiritual renewal and greater unity in our mission.

Let us trust that, through this journey of conversion, the Lord will pour out abundant blessings upon our Religious Family.

It’s time to wake up. I want to paraphrase our founder: “Revive, dear ones.”

With our constant prayer and blessing, we entrust ourselves to your prayers.

In Christ and Mary,

RP. Gustavo Nieto, IVE

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DICASTERY
PER GLI ISTITUTI DI VITA CONSACRATA E LE SOCIETÀ DI VITA APOSTOLICA

Prot. n. DD 2037-1/85

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DECREE

It is the competence of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life “to promote, animate, and regulate the practice of the evangelical counsels, in the way in which it is lived in recognized forms of consecrated life, and also in relation to life and action in Societies of Apostolic Life” (Const. Ap. Praedicate Evangelium , 121). También corresponde al Dicasterio vigilar sobre la vida de los Institutos en lo que se refiere a la formación, la disciplina religiosa, el apostolado y el gobierno (cf. Const. Ap. Praedicate Evangelium , 121, 124).

For many years, the Apostolic See has been following with great attention the delicate situation of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, a clerical religious institute of diocesan right founded by Fr. Carlos Buela in the Diocese of San Rafael, Argentina, and erected in the Diocese of Velletri-Segni, Italy, where the main see is located. This care has also been made explicit through the service of some Pontifical Commissioners who have accompanied the life of the Institute.

On the occasion of the General Chapter that took place in 2016, the Dicastery appointed the Vicar General and two members of the Council. Subsequently, new critical situations were manifested in the field of government and training. In the light of this situation, together with the analysis of the numerous problems, especially concerning the person and behavior of the founder, Fr. Carlos Buela, the need emerged to entrust the direction of the Institute to an external person, of extensive experience, of institutional relevance and of marked moral authority. Therefore, on June 10, 2019, it was provided to appoint Cardinal Santos Abril y Castelló, Pontifical Commissioner of the Institute of the Incarnate Word.

In recent years, the Pontifical Commissary, assisted by his Council and in close collaboration with this Dicastery, has carefully studied the situation of the Institute, also with regard to the presence of its members in the Dioceses, verifying the composition of the communities present throughout the world and internal discipline. It has also provided for a prudent revision and reduction of the number of circumscriptions into which the Institute was divided and the appointment of the new Provincial Superiors.

The meticulous statistics prepared by the Commissariat have made it possible to know, first of all, a great weakness in the training process, identified as one of the factors that has determined the high number of dropouts from the Institute, which since its inception has lost about 40% of its members. Scant attention has also been paid to the constitution of communities, often made up of only two members or of priests who are isolated with a pastoral task, to the detriment of fraternal life in common, which is one of the essential elements of religious life (cf. can. 607 §2).

The Pontifical Commissary had also been granted, by special disposition, the faculties that law grants to the Ordinary of the main see with regard to judicial action, to proceed in all matters relating to the very serious accusations presented against the founder, Fr. Carlos Buela.

Card. Santos Abril y Castelló, with a Decree of May 14, 2020, constituted a Special Criminal Court. This Tribunal, after a careful process, concluded on July 20, 2021 that Fr. Carlos Buela “committed the crime referred to in can. 1395 §2, that is, a crime against the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue, committed with violence” against five members and former members of the Institute of the Incarnate Word.

The Holy Father Francis, with pastoral charity, accepted the request for appeal presented by Fr. Buela and granted the Pontifical Commissioner the power to constitute a Special Court of Appeal. However, Fr. Buela passed away on April 23, 2023, before the Court of Appeal could complete his mandate.

In spite of the repeated and serious measures of the Apostolic See – administrative and penal – which have recognized Fr. Guilty of the crimes for which he was accused, in the Institute of the Incarnate Word and in the Women’s Institute of the Servants of the Lord and of the Virgin of Matará, the founder continues to be presented as a priest unjustly persecuted by the Holy See, and the victims are considered false and insincere.

Therefore, this Dicastery, after having evaluated all things, with the intention of helping the Institute to bring about an effective change, and considering that “the faithful have the right to have their Pastors point out to them the authenticity of charisms and the credit that those who claim to possess them deserve” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Iuvenescit Ecclesia, 17), decides:

1. To appoint H.E. Msgr. José Antonio Satué Huerto, Bishop of Teruel and Albarracín, as Pontifical Delegate of the Institute of the Incarnate Word.
2. To grant it all the powers of government in accordance with universal law and the Constitutions of the Institute, with full power to repeal them if it deems it necessary.

These provisions were specifically approved by the Holy Father on 3 December 2024.

Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary.
From the Vatican, 8 December 2024,
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

João Braz Aviz Card
Prefect

Sr. Simona Brambilla, M.C.
Secretary

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