ROME. Pope Francis has directed the Vatican to reopen the case of a well-known priest-artist accused of sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse of adult women. Additionally, he has removed the statute of limitations on their claims, as announced by the Vatican on Friday.
This decision marks a significant shift for the Holy See, following public outcry from victims and their advocates regarding the handling of the case of Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik, a former Jesuit renowned for his mosaic artwork displayed in churches and basilicas worldwide.
The controversy has posed challenges for the Jesuits, the Vatican, and Pope Francis himself, as it raised suspicions that Rupnik received favorable treatment from the Holy See, given the involvement of Jesuits in the investigation. The sex crimes office had initially declined to prosecute Rupnik, citing the age of the claims against him.
The Vatican statement revealed that Francis’ abuse prevention commission identified “serious problems” in the initial handling of Rupnik’s case, particularly the “lack of outreach to victims.” Notably, church authorities had previously refused to acknowledge women with claims against Rupnik as “victims.”
As a result of this directive, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, responsible for addressing abuse-related crimes in accordance with church law, will conduct a review of the case and has lifted the statute of limitations to facilitate further proceedings.
Rupnik, a Slovene priest, was excommunicated by the Vatican in May 2020 for using the confessional to absolve a woman with whom he had engaged in sexual activity, considered one of the gravest offenses in the Catholic Church’s legal code.
However, when nine additional claims, dating back 30 years, were presented a year later, the sex crimes office refused to waive the statute of limitations. The office also opted not to investigate him for other allegations, including false mysticism, which are not subject to time constraints.
The Jesuit order expelled Rupnik this summer after more adult women came forward with allegations of sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse, which were found “very highly credible” by the Jesuits. However, the Vatican’s canonical norms in place at the time of the alleged abuse prevented harsher punishment.
Pope Francis had previously denied playing a direct role in Rupnik’s case but reaffirmed his decision not to waive the statute of limitations for cases involving adults, as he had done for abuse of minors.
The recent gestures and statements by Pope Francis had raised questions about his stance on the case and the alleged victims. The church’s historical response to women reporting abuse by priests had often involved blaming the women, portraying them as mentally unstable, or minimizing the events as mere “mistakes” or “boundary violations.”
Five of Rupnik’s alleged victims broke their silence, penning a signed open letter criticizing such attitudes from Rupnik’s superiors and asserting that church pledges of “zero tolerance” for abuse were mere “publicity stunts.”
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
