Jesuit and former Rupnik authority: it would be immoral to wait more to help victims

Fr. Johan Verschueren, authority of the Jesuits in Rome, described as “moral duty” the healing process offered by Jesus’ company to the alleged victims of the priest Marko Rupnik, accused of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse against numerous religious for decades.

The offer occurs after Pope Francis lifted the prescription of the RUPNIK case in October 2024.

The Jesuits have extended an open invitation to the victims to participate in a repair process, allowing them to express their needs and how the order can help them.

“Knowing the complaints in all his painful details, we understood that this was our moral duty,” the priest, current general advisor and delegate for the houses and interprovincial works of the Society of Jesus in the Italian capital, told ACI Press.

Fr. Verschueren, who was superior to Rupnik, mentioned that he spoke with two victims, who considered that offering a repair process would be an adequate step. However, he admitted that it was not clear what focus would be the most effective, so they decided to take time to determine the best course of action.

The Jesuit authority indicated that they hoped that Vatican’s investigation would end in approximately six months and that they awaited because they considered valuable to know the opinion of the ecclesiastical court on legal responsibilities before proceeding.

However, he said that “at the point where we are now, it is already clear how to extend our hand”, while saying that it would be “immoral to wait more to take this step.”

Fr. Verschueren also stressed the importance of victims being the protagonists of this process, emphasizing that “it is their history, their pain, their questions.”

While the cards They were not made public Out of respect for the alleged victims, Laura Sgrò, lawyer of women, said that the alleged victims thank Fr. Verschueren for “recognizing the mistakes made so far” and for “welcoming and embraced the victims of Marko Rupnik, offering them the support they had lacked so far.”

And Las Cartas, Verschueren I would have lamented that Rupnik would not have publicly assumed the responsibility of their actions or regret. In fact, the priest and artist known worldwide for his mosaics has not yet pronounced or defended his innocence.

Implicit acceptance of guilt?

As for the question of whether this gesture towards the victims implies an acceptance of guilt, Fr. Verschueren preferred not to respond, highlighting that they are the ones who “have the right to listen directly to us, not through the press.”

“They are free to talk to who they want, about what they want. Time has shown that this is no longer the story of others, it has to become their history. Repair, first of all, means that they become the directors of their stories and the healing process,” he concluded.

On the latest news of the “Rupnik case”, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández reported in an interview at the end of January that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith had finished collecting information, made a first review and was working to form an independent court for the criminal judicial procedure.

To the question of whether the investigation phase had concluded, the purple responded in statements to the media in Rome that “we must find judges with certain characteristics”, who will be “outside the dicascery and will do the work and conclude.”