The Archdiocese of Denver, in a statement, said it was “shocked and saddened by the news of expulsions,” which it attributed to “decades-old allegations in South America.”

The Vatican expelled 10 members from Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a group founded in Peru, after investigators reported cases of physical abuse and cultlike control.

In a letter from the apostolic nunciature in Peru posted on the Peruvian bishops' conference website Sept. 25, the Vatican announced the expulsion of the 10 members, including the former superior general, a retired archbishop and three other priests.

Pope Francis took the unusual decision Wednesday to expel 10 people – a bishop, priests and laypeople – from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru after a Vatican investigation uncovered “sadistic” abuses of power,

Vatican investigators uncovered physical abuses "including with sadism and violence," sect-like abuses of conscience and spiritual abuse

Pope Francis expelled 10 people from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru after a Vatican investigation found “sadistic” abuses of power, sect-like spirituality.

Pope Francis expelled 10 members of Peru's controversial Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) movement on Wednesday, including a bishop, several priests and multiple lay members. The Vatican said the former members were guilty of "sadistic" abuses of power.

An independent investigation said the group's founder was 'narcissistic, paranoid, demeaning, vulgar, vindictive, manipulative, racist, sexist, elitist and obsessed with sexual issues and the sexual o

Pope Francis expelled 10 people from the Sodalitium on Wednesday following an investigation into the Peru movement.