Crux

ROME – The Vatican announced on Monday that a panel of judges has been appointed to hear the case of Father Marko Rupnik, a Slovenian priest accused of serial sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse of dozens of victims, after a review of evidence that lasted two years.

In an Oct. 13 communique, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) said that a panel of five judges have been appointed to hear the case against Rupnik, a former Jesuit and celebrity artist whose works still adorn shrines and chapels around the world.

The DDF in its statement said that the panel is composed “of women and clerics who are not part of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and who do not hold any office in the dicasteries of the Roman Curia.”

“This is for the purpose of better guaranteeing, as in any judicial process, the autonomy and independence of the said Tribunal,” they said.

No information was provided on what kind of procedure was being carried out, whether it is to be a full canonical trial or an expedited administrative procedure – however, sources with knowledge of the case told Crux on background that all of the judges are European, which enables the panel to meet with greater ease in a process that will likely be long and complicated, given the high profile of the Rupnik case.

Rupnik, 70, is accused of sexually abusing and manipulating at least 40 different women, most of whom were religious women who belonged to the Loyola Community he helped found in his native Slovenia in the 1980s.

A former member of the Jesuit order, Rupnik is one of the Catholic Church’s most prolific modern artists, with countless churches and shrines throughout the world containing his works, including the Vatican, as well as world-famous pilgrimage sites like the healing shrine at Lourdes in France.

In 2021, when Pope Francis, a Jesuit, was still alive, nine former members of the Loyola Community complained to the Vatican about Rupnik’s abuse, yet when the allegations against him broke publicly in October 2022, the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at the time led by Spanish Jesuit Cardinal Luis Ladaria, refused to open a formal canonical inquiry, citing a statute of limitations for the abuse of adults, despite the fact that this provision has been waived in other cases.

Despite the DDF’s decision, the Jesuit order barred Rupnik from ministry and imposed restrictions on his travel and commissions for new art projects. In December 2022, they invited anyone with other claims against Rupnik to come forward, which yielded 15 new complaints against him.

After refusing to cooperate with an internal Jesuit inquiry, Rupnik was expelled from the order for disobedience in June 2023.

In mid-September 2023, Pope Francis met a key Rupnik ally, who has publicly called the abuse charges a form of “lynching,” and days later an investigation by the Diocese of Rome essentially gave Rupnik’s Centro Aletti in Rome, where he lived and carried out his art projects, a clean bill of health.

At the time, after being ousted from the Jesuits, Rupnik was incardinated into the Slovenian Diocese of Koper and appeared to be free to carry out his ministry unimpeded. However, in the wake of massive public backlash, Pope Francis in October 2023 reversed course, and waived the statute of limitations on the Rupnik case, allowing a canonical trial to proceed.

Rupnik’s case has remained open since, with the Vatican largely silent on the status of the case and when a verdict can be expected.

Since then, there has been precious little information available on the development of the case.

Nearly a year ago American Archbishop John Kennedy, secretary of the DDF and head of its Disciplinary section, said the inquiry was in advanced stages.

Meanwhile, the DDF’s prefect, Argentine Cardinal Victor Fernandez, said in May that judges were being appointed, but that it was difficult to find adequate candidates, given how high-profile the Rupnik case had garnered so much media attention.

Until recently, following the election of Pope Leo XIV, Rupnik’s artwork was still visible on some Vatican websites, including the Dicastery for Communications, whose prefect Paolo Ruffini in the past has defended Rupnik and suggested that the allegations against him are not as serious because they do not involve minors.

The Dicastery for Communications also employs Natasa Govekar, a Slovenian who works as head of the dicastery’s theological pastoral department and who worked closely with Rupnik for years in his Rome-based studio, the Aletti Center.

All five judges in the case come from Europe, meaning that they may share a common impression of how the Rupnik case has played out over the past two years, especially in the West, where Rupnik and his work is more well-known.

However, even within the European context there are different approaches to how the case might be tried, depending on the country.

The German, Dutch, Belgian and Irish approach, typically more aggressively prosecutorial, would likely be different than that in countries such as Spain, Italy, and Portugal, which tend to be more lenient and attentive to due process rather than a quick and firm conviction.

Should the case be evaluated in a full canonical trial, it could still take months before a conclusion is reached in a process that left Rupnik’s accusers frustrated and faithful enraged that justice has been delayed for so long.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen