Study phase of Fr. Rupnik case over; trial will begin soon

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “must now create a tribunal” to judge Fr. Marko Rupnik. This is what the prefect of the dicastery, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, told several journalists, including I.MEDIA, who were interviewing him during the presentation of a book near the Vatican on March 22, 2025.

Pope Francis is behind this canonical process, which he launched in October 2023. Rupnik is a Slovenian former Jesuit and famous mosaic artist accused of serious abuse by some 40 women.

Cardinal Fernández declined to comment on the details of the case, but focused on its procedural progress. This process is being conducted by the disciplinary section of the Doctrine of the Faith, which is supervised by the prefect, but not directly managed by him. Cardinal Fernández's separation from this section was specified in the mission letter that Pope Francis sent at the time of his appointment in July 2023.

“The dicastery has done the study, has gathered [the information, editor's note] -- because it wasn’t easy to find all the material here -- has organized it, read it, has done all the work,” announced the cardinal. Now, it remains to “create a tribunal to conduct the trial,” he explained.

The Argentine prefect explained that his teams were looking for judges “who have certain characteristics” and who would be “people outside the dicastery,” suggesting that the issue of forming the tribunal has not yet been fully resolved. These magistrates “will do their job and reach a conclusion,” he announced, without giving a specific date, and noting the great interest of the media in this case.

The former Jesuit Marko Rupnik, whose mosaics adorn numerous Catholic shrines around the world — Lourdes, Beirut, Damascus, Aparecida, the Vatican, Fatima, Częstochowa, etc. — is known to have had the attention of Pope Francis. In recent photographs, an icon made by the priest has been seen hanging on the wall of the Pope's apartment in his Santa Marta residence, even though the artist is now at the center of a major scandal revealed in November 2022 by the Society of Jesus.

The Slovenian priest is accused of having spiritually and sexually abused 41 women — according to the complaints received — in the years 1980-2000. Due to the statute of limitations, he was never prosecuted by civil courts.

In 2022, the Society of Jesus revealed that Father Rupnik's case had been examined after a report in 2018. Consequently, he had been excommunicated in 2020 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for having used the confessional to absolve a woman with whom he had had sexual relations. However, the priest repented and had the sanction lifted.

Since then, many women who had collaborated with the priest have spoken out in the media to denounce the spiritual and sexual abuse he is alleged to have committed.

The incidents are said to have taken place in Slovenia and Italy, while he was at the head of the Aletti center, his mosaic workshop, and the religious community linked to it, the Loyola Community.

The Society of Jesus expelled Fr. Rupnik from its ranks in June 2023 for “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience” — in particular regarding the restrictions on his movements that had been imposed on him.

In October 2023, Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations and asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to examine the accusations against Fr. Rupnik. Finally, in December 2023, the Loyola Community was dissolved by the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The Dicastery noted “serious problems concerning the exercise of authority and the coexistence of the communities.”

Since then, several media outlets have inquired about the progress of the proceedings initiated by Pope Francis. They have reported that Fr. Rupnik continues to travel and work freely, despite the emergence of new accusations against him.

The media have noted the former Jesuit's closeness to Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, former vicar of Rome and current Major Penitentiary. In March, Italian journalists from the investigative program “Le Iene” filmed the Slovenia-based priest upon his arrival at Rome-Fiumicino airport.

The DDF leader also made it clear that the study on the definition of the offense of “spiritual abuse” conducted by his dicastery is not yet complete. This offense does not currently exist in canonical terms, even if the term is often used to refer to behavior that uses religious influence to manipulate a person.

“It's a study that I requested myself, to provide clarity once and for all, but I don't know how long it will take,” he said. He assured reporters that the teams involved, including specialists in canon law, were putting “a lot of passion into this work.”