Jesuit priest questions management of the Rupnik case about abuses in the Society of Jesus

The Jesuit priest Julio Fernández Techera, of Uruguayan origin, is the author of a document in which he exposes harsh criticism against the Society of Jesus, including the management of the part of P. Marko Rupnikexpelled from the religious order after being accused of sexually abusing women for decades.

In one of the sections of the document, the priest assures that the Company “is experiencing very worrying situations that seem not to have been discussed in the Congregation of Procurators and that do not appear clearly and assumed in the report. State”.

Specifically, Father Fernández Techera questions the way in which the Society of Jesus has reacted to the serious accusations against the Slovenian priest and artist, a world-famous case that has seriously affected the Jesuits and which he refers to as Tsunami Rupnik.

The Congregation of Procurators is a universal meeting of Jesuits that brings together delegates from each of the administrative units of the Company, as well as its provinces and regions. The last meeting was held in May 2023 and the conclusions were collected in the report On the State of Society.

Father Fernández also affirms that the members of the order were informed of what happened in December 2022 and assures that he cannot comment on the veracity of the accusations against Father Rupnik, “since the trial is just beginning.”

Eight months have passed since in September 2023, Pope Francis lifted the prescription of the case and ordered the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to initiate a new process against Rupnik.

However, Father Julio Fernández Techera criticizes the Company’s conduct and the lack of clear communication to its members, especially “in the face of the serious accusations made by the media about the actions of the General Curia in the last thirty years, in relation to Father Rupnik.”

According to one chronology spread by the Society of Jesus, The first accusations against Fr. Marko Rupnik were in relation to the acquittal of an accomplice for a sin against the sixth commandment in October 2018.

In June 2019, the Jesuits imposed the first restrictions on the accused priest, although they did not specify what they were. Furthermore, in December 2022 he was prohibited from exercising the sacrament of Confession, spiritual direction and performing spiritual exercises, as well as participating in public activities without the permission of his local superior.

“There has also not been a word about the fact that the community of four Jesuits of the Aletti Center, one of them, a former provincial of Slovenia, have expressed solidarity with the accused and have asked to leave the Society and join two dioceses to continue as priests. ” reads below.

The author of the document refers to the decision made by several members of the Aletti Center, founded by Rupnik, to leave the Order after the priest was expelled from the Company in June 2023 due to his “repeated refusal” to comply with the imposed restrictions.

Finally, Father Fernández Techera points out that “the very expulsion of Father Rupnik for disobedience, having requested his departure from the Company, does not cease to attract attention.”

It is worth remembering that two days after Father Rupnik’s expulsion from the Jesuits, the Aletti Center published a letter in his defense and stated that Rupnik himself had already had submitted a request to be able to leave the Order in January 2023.