(AP/CatholicInfo) Early this Friday, five women who claim to have been abused by Rupnik sent letters to Catholic bishops around the world asking them to remove his mosaics from their churches, stating that their continued display in places of worship was ” “inappropriate” and “traumatizing” for them and the rest of the victims.
For his part, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, sent his own letter urging the Vatican to stop exhibiting Rupnik’s works. He said continued use of the works ignores the pain of the victims and could involve a defense of the Slovenian priest.
In this way, the Canadian cardinal responds to the theses of the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini, who recently justified the use of images of Rupnik’s works on the Vatican.news website.
Reported for abuse
In 2021, a group of nuns from the Loyola community accused Rupnik of sexual and psychological abuse during the 1990s. However, following an investigation, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican determined that the allegations against Rupnik they had prescribed. Rupnik was expelled from the Jesuit order last June. In October, the Pope asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to review Marko Rupnik’s case, and decided to lift the statute of limitations to allow for an investigation.
Two former nuns from the Loyola community shared their story publicly at a press conference on February 21. Rupnik’s three other alleged victims include two former nuns and one who is still a nun.
Italian news agency Ansa reports that one of them recounts her relationship with Rupnik, which intensified over time and was later marked by constant harassment at work.
Another victim joined the Loyola community in Slovenia in 1990, at the age of 24. She also describes a pattern of escalating violence, manipulation, psychological harassment and threats. Among other things, she mentions that Rupnik broke her finger to demonstrate his superiority over her. This nun left the community in 1998.
The third alleged victim, according to the agency, met Rupnik in 1980. In her complaint, she also details alleged acts of sexual violence and the constant
