The Society of Jesus said it will open a new internal investigation on Fr Marko Rupnik SJ after receiving abuse accusations with a “very high” degree of credibility against the artist. Source: CNA.
According to a statement yesterday on the Jesuit website, the accusations the religious order received span from 1985 to 2018 and include claims of spiritual, psychological and sexual abuse, and abuse of conscience.
Fr Rupnik, 68, has been informed of the accusations but has refused to meet to discuss them with the order, the statement said.
The order said the internal procedure is in the beginning stages, but possible results could include further restrictions on Fr Rupnik’s ministry up to and including his dismissal from religious life.
During the internal procedure, the Slovenian priest’s ministry will remain under restrictions, the Society of Jesus said. Fr Rupnik also is barred from performing any public artistic activity, especially in religious environments.
In mid-December, the Jesuits invited any alleged victims of Fr Rupnik to contact their investigative team.
Rupnik’s superior, Fr Johan Verscheuren SJ, told the Associated Press and La Repubblica that 14 women and one man came forward to share their stories.
The first complaints against Fr Rupnik became public in December after Italian websites published reports that Fr Rupnik had abused consecrated women in the Loyola Community.
In a statement dated December 2, 2022, the Jesuits said the order had put Fr Rupnik under restrictions for a complaint received in 2021.
The Jesuits later confirmed that Fr Rupnik had incurred an automatic excommunication for absolving an accomplice in confession of a sin against the Sixth Commandment. The excommunication was lifted by the Vatican in May 2020, the same month it had been officially declared.
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Jesuits: New restrictions against Rupnik possible in light of credible abuse accusations (By Hannah Brockhaus, CNA)
