Rupnik's Loyola Community: no one in the Church welcomed and listened to the victims

Third in the series of articles

Up to this point – five years after the first allegations of abuse and nine months after this scandal broke out in public opinion – it can be said that, at least in Rupnik's case, nothing has happened.

 The victims of violence, including sexual violence, by Father Marko Rupnik and the victims of the power and spiritual violence of Sister Ivanka Hosta, both deeply involved in the 40-year trajectory of the Loyola Community, await what the Catholic Church cannot fail in, but has failed in : listening, welcoming and repairing.

Until this moment – five years after the first allegations of abuse in the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and nine months after the outbreak of this scandal in public opinion – it can be said that, at least in the case of Rupnik, nothing happened, and the The recent position of the cardinal vicar of Rome foreshadows the most scandalous scenario: the 'whitewashing' and rehabilitation of this priest.

There will be close to 20 nuns from the Loyola Community abused and raped. In the early 1990s, they complained to either the diocesan bishop, the local superior of the Jesuits, or the Slovak cardinal Tomas Spidlik, Rupnik's theological inspiration. None looked at the victims and the last one, even before becoming a Cardinal, refused to hear one of them confess, advising her to put her grievances in writing.

In addition to complaints from some nuns over the last few decades, more recently, letters were sent to Jesuit officials and the Pope himself received several as well. Nothing happened.

It is true that Rupnik, in theory, had limited movements on the part of the Society of Jesus, in terms of what he could do in the exercise of his priestly ministry, but, ostensibly and even publicly, he ignored the prohibitions and… everyone did what they didn't see.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was twice forced to judge allegations of serious abuse against Rupnik and in both cases the recognition of the Jesuit's guilt was ineffective: in the first case, because the penalty of excommunication for acquittal of an accomplice was soon then raised and, in the second case, because the situations of abuse were considered prescribed.

There were several cases of profound psychological crises, of untimely departures, and, if someone showed signs of thinking about leaving, they were treated as having failed in their vocation. 

As for Sister Ivanka, the disciplinary decree of the Commissioner and Bishop Libanori expresses listening to the sisters and does not shy away from stating the problems of abuse and deciding on them. But it is also true that victims of abuse do not seem to count in this important document. As if everything was resolved with a few penalties… and a demand made to Ivanka that she must pray for them at least once a month.

People, several of whom had already suffered at the hands of Rupnik, found themselves violated by an institutional climate of abusive entry into the scope of their consciousness, in an “wicked system of surveillance of minds” (cf. decree by Bishop Libanori).

Subjected to a regime of “total obedience, stripped of any possibility of critical and reflective position” (statement collected from Fabrizia Raguso), their “personal freedom was almost completely annihilated” (statement from Ester), to the point that almost half of religious women have abandoned the Loyola Community.

The Community lived for years, decades, under a taboo, carrying the corpse of Rupnik who was still alive. But some who entered later were kept unaware of what was behind them, which explains why, during the commissioner's hearings, they became angry, as they became aware of the ghosts and traumas that were hidden from them.

There were several cases of profound psychological crises, of untimely departures, and, if someone showed signs of thinking about leaving, they were treated as having failed in their vocation.

Due to this dark and threatening climate, it is not surprising that the Community was reduced to half: in a few years, 19 left, and it is said that one “even left through the window”.

The Society of Jesus, which reacted only under the pressure of the scandals that occurred last December and January, has no reason to think that its problem has already been resolved by dismissing Rupnik… “for disobedience”.

And the inequality that appears in dealing with the two cases cannot fail to be a cause for questioning. After all, why was the Roman Curia so quick to try to “fix” the Ivanka matter, even isolating it from the statement on the Loyola Community, whose report it has had in its possession for over a year, and is so impassive with Rupnik? , how do we see if the storms pass for good?

The Society of Jesus, which only reacted under the pressure of the scandals that occurred last December and January, also has no reason to think that its problem has already been resolved, by dismissing Rupnik… “for disobedience”. He can only respond for what he is responsible for. He will certainly not carry the responsibilities that belong to his former congregation: the inaction for so many years, the 'laissez faire' to which it committed itself, and, above all, the result of the listening that it promoted, at the beginning of 2023.

According to the data he released, on February 21, 15 new complaints and testimonies emerged, which were recognized as credible and which cover the period from the 1980s to 2018. Formally, a meeting with Rupnik was awaited to decide what follow-up to give to the serious matter collected.

This extensive statement from February began by acknowledging “the inner suffering of having to bring many painful episodes to the surface again” on the part of those who exposed themselves, noting that there were people from the Loyola Community, the Aletti Center and also people without referenced links. . These people “are true heroes and ‘survivors’, given the harm they reported having suffered,” the document added.

“Abel’s blood screams”

But it is important to emphasize that throughout the rest of the document, which deals with the nature of the acts carried out and the procedures to be adopted by the Society of Jesus, the focus is only on Father Rupnik. Its victims – in that part where the Society of Jesus makes commitments – have disappeared. But they disappeared in the document, not in reality. And who is going to meet them now? Who listens to them and treats their wounds? Who will compensate them for the losses they suffered?

In a (rare) interview given to the newspaper La Croix on February 26 of this year, by the commissioner and bishop Daniele Libanori, he asks that the victims of this Slovenian priest and artist, many of whom “have never been able to count on professional help to overcome their trauma ”, “are listened to by the authorities of the Church”.

“Abel’s blood screams – observes the commissioner – and, to silence it, a trial is necessary. Victims, even more than 30 years later – a time that is equivalent to a life sentence – have the right to hear from the authorities a definitive word that silences the doubt about their guilt and restores their dignity, proclaiming what is true , who were victims.”

Bishop Libanori is apparently preaching in the desert.

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Read the other articles in the series here