Vatican Denies Reports of Ex-Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik's Acquittal

This story has been updated.

By Gary Gately

The Vatican on Wednesday denied reports that world-famous artist and former Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik has been acquitted of psychological, spiritual and sexual abuse of more than two dozen women.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, called the reports that judges in a canonical trial had cleared Rupnik “completely unfounded.”

In a statement, Bruni added: “The review of the case is still ongoing, and the panel is examining documentation provided by the dioceses involved, the Jesuits, the parties concerned, and from the press.”

The denial followed reports in two online publications Monday that Rupnik had been acquitted by a panel of Vatican-appointed judges. The reports quickly went viral.

On Tuesday, Laura Sgrò, an attorney representing five consecrated women who have accused Rupnik of abusing them, wrote a scathing letter to the head of the Vatican office that handles abuse cases denouncing the Vatican’s secretive legal system, as The Associated Press first reported.

In the letter to Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, who heads the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), Sgrò complained that no one from the Vatican had ever responded to her calls or emails seeking information about the case and that her clients had never been interviewed.

Sgrò wrote in the letter, obtained by The Catholic Observer, that her clients felt “abandoned and betrayed” and called them victims of a “system that has never welcomed, protected, or comforted them.”

“How can what is happening be reconciled with the concepts of law, truth, justice, and fairness? With the words that the Holy Father constantly speaks on behalf of the victims of abuse?” Sgrò wrote.

In his statement, Bruni defended the secrecy of the proceedings, writing: “No information regarding the ongoing investigation may be shared in any way out of respect for the process itself and to avoid causing harm to all those involved in the matter, as has occurred in recent days. Should the panel deem it necessary to obtain further information, it will take the initiative to do so on its own.”

Bruni said Rupnik, 71, “remains subject to the legislation of the countries in which any alleged crimes may have been committed,” adding that “the statute of limitations for such offences is determined by the legislation of each country, independently of ecclesiastical authority.”

The Vatican announced last October that it had appointed five independent judges to oversee the trial.

Bruni’s statement came two days after traditionalist Italian blog Messa in Latino, citing “persistent and highly credible sources,”reported that Rupnik had been acquitted. The online publication Ad Vaticanum, citing anonymous sources, then also reported that it had confirmed that Rupnik had been cleared.

Rupnik’s elaborate mosaics still adorn Catholic shrines, churches and chapels across the world, but have been covered up at some churches and removed from websites, including the Holy See’s Vatican News portal.

The scandal broke in October 2022, when Italian blogs began reporting the claims of nuns and other women — most of whom belonged to the Loyola Community the 71-year-old Rupnik helped found in his native Slovenia in the 1980s — that he had sexually, spiritually and psychologically abused them. Some of the allegations dated to the mid-1990s.

Rupnik, who remains a priest, was briefly excommunicated in 2020 for absolving during the sacrament of reconciliation an Italian novice with whom he had once had sex. But after he repented, the excommunication was lifted.

The Vatican’s doctrinal office initially refused to open a formal canonical inquiry into the allegations, citing a statute of limitations for the abuse of adults, even though it had been waived in other cases.

But in October 2023, Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations, allowing the trial to proceed. That came after the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, an advisory group he had established to prevent sexual abuse, cited “serious problems in the handling of the Father Marko Rupnik case and lack of outreach to victims.”

The Jesuit order, formally known as the Society of Jesus, expelled Rupnik in June 2023 after a lengthy investigation found the “degree of credibility” to the abuse allegations against him to be “very high.” The order said Rupnik refused to cooperate with its internal inquiry.

Last November, Pope Leo XIV confirmed that the Rupnik trial had recently begun.

“Judges have been appointed, and judicial processes take time,” Pope Leo told reporters at the papal retreat Castel Gandolfo outside Rome. “I know it is very hard for victims to be asked for patience, but the church must respect the rights of all individuals. The presumption of innocence until proven guilty applies in the church as well. We hope this process will bring clarity and justice for everyone involved.”

Rupnik’s supporters deny any wrongdoing on his part.

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