After years of reform attempts and Vatican investigations, Pope Francis has taken the extraordinary step of disbanding Peru's Catholic movement, the Society for Christian Life (SCV). The investigation revealed sexual abuse by its founder, financial mismanagement by its leaders and emotional abuse by senior members.

The Socialists' dissolution was confirmed on Monday, with the decision conveyed by Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, the pope's top legal adviser, at a general meeting in Aparecida, Brazil, over the weekend. Revealing the dissolution in a statement, the group lamented that news of Francis' decision was leaked by two members who attended the rally and they were "eventually expelled."

It did not provide any details, saying only that the "core information" about the dissolution reported by the Spanish-language website Infovaticana "is true but contains some inaccuracies." It did not say what the inaccuracies were.

The Vatican has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Disbanding—or suppressing—a religious movement recognized by the pope is a major task for a pope, and even more so for a Jesuit pope, since the Jesuit religious order itself was suppressed in the 1700s.

The rumored dissolution of the SCV marks the end of the slow death of the movement, which was founded in 1971 as one of several Catholic societies born out of a conservative reaction to the left-leaning liberation theology movement sweeping the world. Across Latin America.

At its peak, the organization had approximately 20,000 members in South America and the United States. It had a huge impact in Peru.

But former members complained to the Archdiocese of Lima in 2011 about abuse by its founder, Luis Figari, and other allegations date back to 2000. But neither the local church nor the Holy See took concrete action until one of the victims, Pedro Salinas, wrote a book by journalist Paola Ugaz detailing Sodalitium's practices in 2015, titled "Half the Monks" , half the soldiers”.

In 2017, a report commissioned by the organization's leadership determined that Figari subjected his recruits to humiliating sexual and psychological abuse.

After trying reforms, Francis sent two of his most trusted investigators, Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Bishop Jordi Bertomeu, to investigate the abuse of sodium and lithium. Their reporting exposed abuses of power, authority and spirituality by sectarian "sadists"; financial abuses in the management of church funds; and even abuses in news coverage to harass critics.

Their report led to the ouster of Figari and 10 senior members last year, including an archbishop who sued Salinas and Ugaz over the report and was earlier forced into early retirement.

Salinas, who has long called for a crackdown on the SCV, said news of Francis' decree was "extraordinary" even though it came too late since it was first condemned 25 years ago. He praised Scicluna and Bertomeu, as well as Sister Simone Brambilla, the new prefect of the Vatican's Office of Religious Orders, as she ultimately takes charge of the Vatican's religious orders.

"Of course, nothing would have happened without Pope Francis' personal commitment in this long history of impunity," Salinas said, noting that Peruvian institutions and bishops "would rather turn a blind eye and unwilling to accompany the Argentine Pope in his struggle.” For a Catholic Church free of abuse.”

It's unclear what will happen to Sodalitium's assets, which victims hope will be used as compensation for their trauma. According to canon law, only the Holy See can suppress an institution like the SCV, and "decisions concerning the secular interests of the institution are also reserved to the Apostolic See."