Rupnik victim slams handling of case in new interview. “The Church welcomes” is just a mantra.

Fabrizia Raguso 28/10/2023

Adista Segni Nuovi n° 37 of 04/11/2023

The forms of abuse perpetrated by the former Jesuit Marko Rupnik do not only concern the sexual sphere; long before the sexual siege takes place there is a non-random gradualness of psychological pressures, which begin with love bombing, flattery, making you feel unique and special. At the same time it touches one's areas of difficulty, indecision or greatest suffering. This is facilitated by the fact that, in the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, there is a daily "conversation" with those who lead them. In this space, very similar to spiritual accompaniment, it is natural for those who do the Exercises to share not only the outcome of daily prayer, but also the most intimate aspects of their difficulties in the spiritual, emotional and existential fields. In this profound introspection that the Exercises propose, previous experiences that may be complex or on which one is stuck also emerge. At the end of the first week of the Exercises, the "confession of life" is scheduled, which those guided by Rupnik normally do with him. When I did the Exercises with Rupnik for the first time, in four days my entire spiritual and ecclesial experience and life was disqualified, put into crisis. He "imposed" himself in a subtle but precise, premeditated way. After the second Ignatian week, in which I came to the decision to follow religious life, I began to meet him regularly, and in a short time (a few months) I asked to join the Loyola Community, which did not yet have a real structure (it was the 1991).

In the spiritual accompaniment experiences I had before meeting Rupnik, no one had ever "determined" me, pushed me to make precise choices, but only helped me to better understand what I was experiencing, to make my decisions; and it had happened for a long time that I had not taken any. In his relationship with him, his decisive, "charismatic" style, also very daring in its contents (in Gorizia, when he was involved in youth ministry at the Stella Matutina, he gave conferences on sexuality which were widely followed by young people and couples, with an approach that he defined as "spiritual ”, in which he confused the contents of the fathers of Eastern spirituality with some authors of contemporary psychology) led to decisions, to making changes very quickly, in a “conversion” style that can easily be found in many charismatic and typical experiences of the new religious movements. All this fascinated me. There was no physical abuse, of course (and perhaps only because there was no opportunity). The style was that of "sudden conversion", as William James defines it. But the consequence of this style precipitated choices that then led me to experience a very repressive relationship with Ivanka Hosta and violent because subtle abuse, resulting in two very complex experiences of depression. I have never been able to get adequate care. Indeed, I was blamed because my state of prostration, of existential emptiness was, according to Ivanka, the consequence of my excessive autonomy and lack of faith and authentic abandonment to Christ and to the community (i.e. to Ivanka, as superior general). Subsequently the technique was to isolate me, speaking badly about me to the other sisters, in my absence. A method he used, as the commissioner Msgr. also recognises. Bibbiari, with all the “problematic” sisters, who, after all, were resisting. And the method of talking about absentees with third parties was absolutely widespread.

Expose yourself first hand

I have wanted to denounce openly for some time now, because I have always been aware that denouncing is a civic and ecclesial responsibility. On the other hand, I am originally from Southern Italy, and all these experiences, when I became definitively aware of them with the beginning of the administration of the Loyola Community, I automatically associated them with the mafia mentality and the manipulation that the "mafia culture" has imposed and has been imposing for decades and which now, as we know, is also based on heavy infiltration into public administrations and politics. It is the same mentality and modus operandi of the sects. Therefore, for me, denouncing openly had the value of redemption and liberation, and not only for me, but also for others who could still be defrauded by these two very centralizing and manipulative figures. However, many stopped me and advised caution, especially because I have responsibilities in the Church and work in a Catholic University and this could have had a negative impact on my life and work. It was clear, however, that without the involvement of the press the Church would continue to ignore us. But with the last two events of last September (the Pope's audience with Maria Campatelli and the report on the canonical visit of the Aletti Centre) the limit was filled. I had to come out into the open, with my identity and my professional skills. It was necessary to give a face to the victims and say that they are not vulnerable because they are ignorant, sick or psychologically fragile or without means; they were victims because they trusted, while trying to live their spiritual experience and their faith more radically (see the open letter of five victims to the Pope, Adista Segni Nuovi 32/23, ed.).

The note from the Vicariate

There is a lot of indignation in seeing that there are clear attempts to even question the conclusions of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Dicastery, even if it did not proceed with a conviction of Rupnik due to the statute of limitations of the reported facts, nevertheless recognized that his conduct was of serious abuse. Now, questioning all this causes deep pain in those who have faith in bishops, in the Church. And, clearly, also in the victims, all of them, not just those of this horrible case.

Requests to the Church

Therefore, even after a month in which no one, among those who could and should have done so, has uttered a word of listening to the victims, we return to ask that the Church, with its bodies appointed for this purpose, listen to all the victims. We ask that it be consistent with what it states, that is, that every abuse hurts the person indelibly; We ask that “zero tolerance for abuse” is not just a slogan. We ask the Church and the Pope to have the truth at heart, because only the Truth liberates and will also be able to liberate the message of the Gospel, which is too compromised and obscured by these deceptions and plots to cover up horrors and scandals. Listening to the victims is an act of civility and fidelity to the Gospel. We could reread the passage from Matthew 25 from this perspective: today we meet Christ and we must recognize him even in the victims of abuse who are not listened to and who are not given justice.

in this story there is also a passage that has never been clarified, and it concerns the latae sententiae excommunication imposed on Rupnik, and immediately remitted. Any abuser, not just sexual abusers - we see it in many other contexts such as abuses of power in the workplace, or in the world of entertainment and finance - can live behind "an honorable facade". And anyone who has listened to the members of the Aletti Center community may have found a profound dependence among them on their manipulative leader. In psychoanalysis we talk about "identification with the aggressor", a defense mechanism that the victim develops unconsciously, especially when he has a direct emotional relationship with his abuser, and which leads to distorting reality and even his own experience. Even some sisters (many to be honest) of the Loyola Community state with absolute conviction that Ivanka Hosta is the real victim; that there was no abuse in the way Ivanka lived (and still lives) and acted in her role as her superior general. And that precisely when she uses harsh ways that focus on absolute obedience, on a spirituality of sacrifice and union with the Crucifix, this helps her to grow spiritually. Obviously this is a typical way of dealing with the difficulty of living independently and being able to reflect critically and say what is wrong without the fear of being unfaithful or ungrateful towards those who have convinced you that they want to save you and act for your good. And above all, this attitude exorcises the fear of being destroyed by the abuser. It is, after all, a way to live in pain by accepting it, allowing one's self, one's identity, one's physical and psychological health to be destroyed, in order to survive.

When the person reporting is an adult woman

Of course, reporting involves risks. I am aware of the fact that victims are always subject to new forms of victimization when they report. We also see it in other areas, other than the ecclesial one. In the best case scenario, they are held responsible for having agreed to relate to their abusers (even life partners!), for not having refused to comply with their requests; or even of having caused the abuse, with their possibly seductive way. If the victims have roles of responsibility and important cultural skills they will always be viewed with suspicion, even considered opportunists, and in any case they risk even more not being believed and listened to. Especially in the Church, and precisely from women, we often hear these comments. Many religious women say and think this about complaints against abusive priests. And in our case, due to the fact that we all have a fairly high level of education, we were asked several times why we didn't realize that we were in an abusive and toxic context, from a spiritual and psychological point of view.

Being an adult victim of abuse, therefore, is a much more difficult condition in the Church today, and even more so if a victim of spiritual and psychological abuse. This is the reason why, for example, as a psychologist I believe that we need to scientifically clarify and modify the concept of "vulnerability" in its psychosocial and therefore also legal dimension, as I embryonicly supported in my article published in Adista (see Adista Documents n. 31/23).

Overcoming stereotypes

I hope that the Church will be able to overcome these stereotypes, and that canon law will also modify and insert rules that recognize and protect against spiritual abuse. It is a dimension that grows exponentially in many areas; and it is clear that if the Church remains closed in the face of so much manipulation and suffering it will lose more and more credibility. The "empty churches" after the pandemic (an occasional event, but which has brought out the crisis of participation more forcefully, in many feeling part of the ecclesial community) cannot be resolved with large global gatherings, nor with reforms and proclamations which are not reflected in concrete, preventive or remedial actions. The "mantra" of a Church that welcomes everyone is not enough, we must in truth welcome especially those who are inconvenient to us, who make us face our responsibilities, who remind us of our sins of omission.

A human formation

There is a lot of questioning about human formation in seminars, about prevention and about an education that leads to healthy and mature sexuality and human relationships. Psychologists are often asked how to identify potential abusers, but their skills are not a "glass ball" in which to see the future. The contribution that I personally strive to make is to fully form the whole person; I deal, with other collaborators, with human formation in a theological seminary. In this path, together with the trainers who deal with spiritual accompaniment, we try to recognize the impediments to healthy development, capable of integrating one's personal history, and therefore understanding the vocation, the life choice in a broader panorama. We direct, when appropriate, a psychotherapeutic intervention with a view to the growth of the person, and not with the aim of mere personality diagnosis. What we can and must do is engage in systematic prevention, not only in seminaries, but throughout the entire ecclesial fabric. There are also "Christian" families who are abusive from an emotional point of view and not only in intra-family and intergenerational relationships. The terrain of the new post-conciliar charismatic movements is very favorable from this point of view. This means, for me, recognizing that abuse is a “systemic” problem; which embraces different realities and responsibilities. And which must be addressed in a systemic way, without separating it from the same phenomenon found in realities other than those of parishes and ecclesial movements.

This systemic and social gaze does not serve to minimize the responsibilities of abusers and those who collude by covering up, but to understand the true root of this phenomenon, which insinuates itself into the depths of postmodern society in a truly shocking way.

Fabrizia Raguso is an associate professor of Psychology at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Braga and a former religious of the Loyola Community in Slovenia led by Ivanka Hosta, in which the influence of the former Jesuit mosaicist priest Marko Rupnik, accused of sexual abuse, was very strong.

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