VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — As the revelations surrounding alleged abuser priest Father Marko Ivan Rupnik continue to appear, and the Jesuit’s own Slovenian province say the accusations against him are true, the Vatican still remains silent.
As LifeSiteNews has extensively reported – HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE – Rupnik has been accused of psychologically and sexually abusing religious sisters in the Loyola Community, an order which he himself was a co-founder. The religious community was founded by a nun to whom Rupnik was both a friend and a “spiritual father.”
In a separate offense, Rupnik was also automatically excommunicated and found guilty by an ecclesiastical court of absolving in confession a woman with whom he had sexual relations.
Since the news broke some weeks before Christmas, continued revelations and updates about the case have been regularly forthcoming – but such revelations have still not merited any public response from the Vatican.
Francis reportedly ignored letters from Rupnik’s community
Italian news outlet Left, which was involved in breaking the Rupnik case, reported January 4 that Pope Francis allegedly ignored letters from nuns Rupnik abused in the religious community.
The Vatican opened up an investigation into the Loyola Community and Rupnik’s co-founder Sr. Ivanka Hosta, but when no progress was made, four former members of the community decided to take action.
Left wrote that “Pope Francis received 4 letters from as many former sisters” of the community regarding Rupnik’s actions, all of which went unanswered. “Pope Francis never answered this and the other 3 letters,” Left wrote.
Rupnik was accused of carrying out “psychological abuse and sexual violence” against a number of nuns. Previously, ACI Prensa reported that a “source” informed the news outlet that Rupnik had abused at least nine nuns, and Left has written that one of the nuns had attempted suicide following the alleged abuse.
READ: Former nun details years of ‘satanic’ sex abuse by Jesuit priest Fr. Rupnik
An alleged victim of Rupnik’s, using the pseudonym “Anna,” estimated that of the 41 women in the Loyola Community in the early 1990s, Rupnik had engaged in sexual abuse with about 20 of them.
The accusation that Francis ignored these letters come in addition to the report from Messa in Latino that Francis intervened within “a few hours” to overturn the excommunication Rupnik had incurred for absolving an accomplice – an excommunication confirmed by the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
Slovenian Jesuits ‘believe’ abuse allegations against Rupnik
Subsequently, the Jesuit Order in Slovenia posted a statement on its website January 6. In the statement the Jesuits condemned Rupnik, a native of Slovenia, and declared that:
We believe in the sincerity of the nuns and other victims who have spoken out about their suffering and other circumstances regarding emotional, sexual and spiritual abuse by our confrere.
The Province asked for “forgiveness from all,” stating that “it is evident that as a Province we have not been able to listen to the victims in the past and to take appropriate action to clarify matters and put an end to the suffering.”
Referencing the testimony of the members of the Loyola Community, the Slovenian Province stated that such accounts “show beyond doubt that the competent church leaders did not take appropriate action.”
The Slovenian Province were careful to pass on responsibility to the Jesuit headquarters in Rome, though, highlighting his residence in the city since 1993.
But the Province also encouraged “victims and witnesses – as well as others who may be involved – speak out,” in order to further bring to light Rupnik’s alleged actions.
As it stands, with the CDF having dropped the case against Rupnik regarding his sexual abuse, citing time limitations, there are no canonical or civil proceedings against him currently underway.
Jesuit university in Rome cuts ties with Rupnik
Days later, the Rector of Rome Jesuit Pontifical Gregorian University, Father Mark Andrew Lewis, S.J., removed all references to Rupnik from the university website. Il Sismografo reported that “it has been indicated that the Slovenian priest, a famous mosaic artist, will not even be able to continue to follow two students engaged in university theses as tutors.”
All the activities of the priest planned to carry out in future programs have also been canceled and therefore, substantially, Father Rupnik cannot have any academic relationship with the university.
“Similar situations have occurred in the case of other institutions,” continued the blog, without giving further details.
Nevertheless, Rupnik is still listed as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization and as a consultant to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
For a number of weeks after the news broke, Rupnik was publicly scheduled to lead the four-day Spiritual Exercises at the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy House of Loreto in February 2023. However, in the last number of days Rupnik has been replaced. Despite this, promotional material for the retreat still appears to use one of Rupnik’s unique icons.
The Vatican has neither issued a statement on the Rupnik case nor addressed allegations that Francis intervened within “hours” to lift the excommunication the priest incurred.
The Holy See Press Office has not responded to later questions about the Rupnik case, which LifeSiteNews sent on December 15.