A case of sexual abuse that has shaken the Jesuits has expanded, with a former nun recounting how her allegations against a renowned priest were disregarded, and the religious order urging others to come forward with any more proof.
On Sunday, December 18, the 58-year-old lady reported that Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, a Slovenian priest known for his artwork in the Church, abused her. She made the allegation to the reputable Italian investigative weekly Domani.
She revealed how, thirty years ago, the priest used his “psycho-spiritual” power over her to have group intercourse and view pornographic videos. He was the spiritual director of a Slovenian convent at the time.
Rupnik is at the center of a controversy involving the Jesuits, a Catholic order of priests and brothers that includes Pope Francis.
The order’s inconsistent remarks have left many concerns unresolved. Several prominent Jesuits have demanded a comprehensive examination of how the order and the Vatican handled the situation.
Only after media stories revealed Rupnik’s alleged mistreatment of nuns did the Jesuit headquarters announce he had been reprimanded on December 2.
It stated that it had commissioned an unknown non-Jesuit to investigate Rupnik, 68, after receiving a complaint against him the previous year. The Jesuits placed constraints on his ministry.
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The Vatican’s doctrinal section dismissed the investigation in October, citing the statute of limitations, after receiving the results from the Jesuits. The Jesuits forbade Rupnik from listening to confessions and guiding spiritual retreats.
On December 7, Jesuit leader Father Arturo Sosa stated that nothing was concealed, but later recanted. A timetable given by the Jesuits on Sunday revealed that Rupnik’s excommunication was the outcome of a separate procedure that occurred between 2018 and 2020.
This case included the “absolution of an accomplice” in confession, which is when a priest has sexual relations with a someone and then absolves them of their guilt. The timetable said that the Vatican excommunicated Rupnik in May 2020 and lifted the excommunication in the same month when Rupnik repented.
The evidence given by the Jesuits did not reveal any attempts to punish Rupnik more severely or defrock him.
Rupnik did not react to messages left at his school for sacred painting in Rome, despite repeated attempts to contact him there.
The Jesuits essentially reopened the investigation on Sunday when they posted a message on their website inviting anybody with new complaints or to discuss current ones to contact them.
On Monday, the Jesuit press office did not respond to requests for comment on recent events.
At the interview with Domani, the former nun discusses her stay in the convent from 1987 until 1994 in great detail. She stated that she felt Rupnik had mistreated up to twenty women.
She said that her protests to her female boss and a Church official in Slovenia were ignored at the time.
The woman said Domani, “He ought to have been stopped thirty years ago.”
