About a year ago, revelations shook the Jesuits about one of their own, Father Marko Rupnik—a Slovenian priest known for his mosaics—and sexual assaults he had committed on women and nuns in the community he had founded in Slovenia. Although the Society of Jesus eventually excluded him, the way his case was handled revealed complicity in high places to cover up his acts. Last week, it was revealed that Father Rupnik has been incardinated into a Slovenian diocese with no apparent restrictions on his priesthood.
The diocese of Koper in Slovenia, where Rupnik is originally from, is preparing to welcome the priest who has been without an assignment since he was expelled by the Jesuits in the summer of 2023—a situation not tolerated by canon law. In theory, Father Rupnik’s new incardination means that he can now carry out all the functions of a priest—a decision that ordinary Catholics do not understand, given his background. The diocese justifies the incardination by the fact that Father Rupnik has not been convicted of any criminal offence. The decision was taken in consultation with Msgr. Jurij Bizjak, bishop of Koper, Msgr. Jean-Marie Speich, the apostolic nuncio to Slovenia, and Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, vicar general of the diocese of Rome.
Father Rupnik is accused of assault, and of the moral and sexual harassment of women, including nuns, as well as perversion of the sacrament of Confession. The acts were allegedly committed between 1998 and 2000. Initially excommunicated, his excommunication was lifted in May 2020, despite the seriousness of his acts. In all likelihood, this favourable treatment was only possible because of Fr. Rupnik’s support in the Church hierarchy. Before his expulsion from the Jesuits, the order had forbidden him to celebrate Mass in public, but he had ignored the restrictions imposed on him. The Italian press reported that he had concelebrated Mass in the church of Santa Praxedes in Rome in March.
However, the priest could once again be caught up in ecclesiastical justice. On Friday, October 27th, the Vatican announced that the pontifical commission for the protection of minors had informed the pope in September of serious problems in the handling of Father Marko Rupnik’s case, as well as a flagrant lack of attention paid to the victims. Following this report, the Pope asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “to examine the case” and, to this end, “has decided to waive the statute of limitations in order to allow a trial to take place,” reads a press release from the Holy See.
At a time when the Synod of Bishops, called by Pope Francis to bring the Church closer to the faithful, is being held, attention to the victims, deemed insufficient in this case, must be put back at the centre. At the time of his expulsion from the Society of Jesus in July, Father Rupnik’s superior did not rule out the possibility of a canonical trial but pointed out that the decision lay with the Holy See. The way is now open.
