The director of the Holy See Press Office firmly denied, Wednesday July 22, rumors reporting a criminal acquittal of Father Marko Rupnik, a famous Slovenian mosaicist accused of sexual violence by numerous women. Since October 2025, the Jesuit has been prosecuted as part of a canonical trial instructed by five independent judges mandated by the dicastery for the doctrine of the faith.
“I reiterate that reports of any deliberation on the part of the judges handling the case of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik are completely unfounded,” Matteo Bruni said in a statement. For several days, rumors had been circulating in the press according to which the accused had been acquitted of the charge of violence.
The Vatican spokesperson assures on the contrary that the examination of the file is “still in progress”, specifying that the college of judges is “studying the documentation coming from the dioceses concerned, the Society of Jesus, interested people and the press”. He adds that it is up to the panel of judges to determine whether it needs additional information and to request it if necessary.
A confidential procedure
During the trial, “no information regarding current activities can be communicated, in any form whatsoever, out of respect for the procedure itself and in order to avoid hurting all those involved in this matter,” warns the director of the Press Office.
According to Italian media, following the rumors, Laura Sgrò, the lawyer for five plaintiffs, sent a letter to the prefect of the dicastery for the doctrine of the faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, confiding that her clients were “dismayed and deeply saddened”. She deplored the lack of information surrounding this trial and affirmed that these women had not been heard as witnesses despite their request.
In his press release, Matteo Bruni recalls that this canonical criminal trial is of a judicial nature – and not administrative, which would constitute a simplified procedure – and that it takes place “by derogation from the rules of limitation applicable to possible offenses”.
In October 2023, Pope Francis instructed the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to examine the case of Father Marko Rupnik without taking into account the limitation periods. The pope explained that he made his decision after the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors had informed him of serious problems in the handling of the case and the lack of consideration for the alleged victims.
The aim of this trial is to determine whether Marko Rupnik “is guilty or not under canon law”, further indicates the director of the Press Office. He emphasizes that canonical procedures and penalties concern “the internal life of the Church” and do not replace “the legislation of countries where possible offenses may have been committed”. Because of the statute of limitations, Marko Rupnik has never been prosecuted by civil justice.
Excluded from the Society of Jesus in 2023
Marko Rupnik, whose mosaics adorn many Catholic shrines around the world – Lourdes, Beirut, Damascus, Aparecida, the Vatican, Fatima, Częstochowa – is accused of having spiritually and sexually abused numerous women in the 1980s-2000s. The events allegedly took 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. He was excluded from the Companion of Jesus in 2023.
Last November, Leo XIV hoped that the canonical process just initiated would be “able to bring a little clarity and justice to all those concerned”. According to our information, the verdict concerning Father Rupnik could be rendered by the end of the summer, before the American-Peruvian pope goes to Lourdes during his trip to France. Since March 2025, the Pyrenees sanctuary, decorated with mosaics by the former Jesuit, has covered part of these works.
