Vatican confirms abuse by founder of Institute of the Incarnate Word, orders renewal

ROME — The Holy See has confirmed that Argentine priest Carlos Miguel Buela, founder of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE), committed abuse against several individuals.

The Vatican reached this conclusion following a canonical process and has ordered the religious family, which has been under Vatican intervention for more than seven years and without self-governance, to undertake a path of renewal.

The decision was communicated during a meeting in Rome on Sept. 14 involving the pontifical delegates overseeing the menʼs and womenʼs branches of the congregation, provincial superiors of both institutes, and representatives of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The decision was made public Tuesday and had also been posted on the IVEʼs website last week.

According to a Vatican statement, both the Special Criminal Tribunal of First Instance and the Court of Appeal, established by the Churchʼs competent authority, “reached moral certainty regarding the responsibility of Fr. Carlos Miguel Buela, founder of the two institutes, for committing an offense against the Sixth Commandment, perpetrated with violence against several…