Catholic Jesuit order hit by priest abuse scandal
Father Marko Rupnik is accused of sexually abusing a number of women in the 1990s.
Daily TribuneFather Marko Rupnik is accused of sexually abusing a number of women in the 1990s.
VATICAN CITY, Holy See (AFP) — The Catholic Jesuit order, of which Pope Francis is a member, has been rocked by claims a prominent priest abused several women, a case raising questions about how the Church sanctions offenders.
Father Marko Rupnik, a 68-year-old Slovenian priest and world-renowned artist, is accused of abusing a number of women at a religious community in Ljubljana in the early 1990s, in what press reports said involved sexual and psychological violence.
The case first emerged in the Italian media, before the Jesuits — one of the main Roman Catholic orders, founded in 1540 — revealed it had sanctioned Rupnik, denying him the right to hear confession.
The Vatican's dicastery (ministry) for the doctrine of the faith was involved in the case but said it could not put Rupnik on trial because the statute of limitations had expired.
The Jesuits later revealed that, in a separate case, Rupnik had also been convicted of the "absolution of an accomplice… in a sin against the sixth commandment" — namely absolving someone for having sex with him.
This is a serious crime in church law, for which Rupnik was automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church in May 2020. The excommunication was lifted by a Vatican decree later that month.
"To remove the excommunication, the person must acknowledge the fact and formally repent. And Rupnik has done so," Father Arturo Sosa, the Jesuit superior general, told journalists earlier this month.
Asked if Pope Francis had been consulted about Rupnik's case, Sosa said: "I do not have a direct channel with the pope."
He added: "Before making the decision, I can imagine that the prefect of the dicastery spoke with the pope. That seems normal to me. But I cannot say yes or no."
