Vatican Appoints General Council for Conservative Community IVE
Furthermore, Bishop Satué introduced a new website of the institute.
Founded in Argentina in 1984, the IVE operates internationally. The institute had lost close to 40% of its members since its foundation.
The New General Council
Bishop Satué of Málaga, Spain, appointed five members to the council in a decree dated July 25. He communicated it to the IVE members on August 18.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life approved the appointments.
The new council includes:
- Fr. Ervens Mengelle, IVE, as vicar general;
- Br. Giampiero Pettenon, SDB, as treasurer general;
- Fr. Diógenes Urquiza, IVE, with responsibility for contemplative monasteries;
- Fr. Giampiero Gambaro, OFM Cap., with responsibilities as procurator;
- Fr. Paolo Crivelli, FFB, with responsibility for formation.
Nobody Knew Who Ran the Order’s Website
Monsignor Satué has also announced a new official website for the institute.
In a message to IVE members, he said the pontifical delegation had consulted provincial superiors and members of the general government but had been unable to determine who administered the Ive.org website or email accounts using @ive.org domain.
The bishop explained it would be irresponsible to continue using those systems without knowing who controlled them.
He designated the newly established website as the institute’s only official website and instructed IVE houses and provinces not to use the other sites as official references.
Homosexual Accusations Against Founder
Cardinal Santos Abril, a previous pontifical commissioner, reported in 2023 that at least 275 religious, most of them priests, had left the institute. He also criticized the IVE for maintaining numerous small communities consisting of only one or two religious.
A central issue in the Vatican’s intervention has been the legacy of IVE founder Fr. Carlos Buela. The Vatican removed Buela as superior general in 2010 following allegations of inappropriate conduct involving male adult members of the institute. He was ordered to live away from the IVE and was subjected to restrictions on contact with its members.
In 2016, Church authorities confirmed that the Holy See had found complaints against Buela to be substantiated.
A special canonical tribunal established under Cardinal Abril concluded in 2021 that Buela had committed grave offenses involving violence against five members and former members of the institute.
Buela appealed the ruling but died in April 2023 before a final decision on the appeal was issued.
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