As of April this year, the Vatican had not yet spoken to the victims abused by Rupnik

Two nuns who experienced sexual and psychological violence by Father Marko Rupnik spoke to TV Slovenia. The artist, priest and former Jesuit, who is accused by several nuns of psychological and sexual abuse, will be tried in the Vatican court.

Gloria Branciani was a medical student when she joined the Loyola community, in which women, like men among the Jesuits, followed the charism of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Marko Rupnik was their confessor and spiritual director.

"He told me many times that all his art was connected to his sex life. I was there when he painted naked, and was aroused, he demanded sexual favors, such as oral sex. He forced me into threesomes," Branciani told Tednik. She first reported Rupnik to her and his superiors for psychological and sexual abuse in 1993.

Branciani spoke to her superior, founder and leader of the Loyola Community, Ivanka Hosta, and wrote to the then Archbishop of Ljubljana. There was no response. 

"When I spoke about this during confession to Father Špidlik, who was Rupnik's spiritual father, he stopped me and said: This is his business, I don't want to know anything about it. He himself wrote my request, saying that I wanted to leave the community. It was clear that they wanted to blame everything on me. And they succeeded," the former nun told Tednik.

She spoke with her superior, founder and leader of the Loyola Community, Ivanka Hosta, and wrote to the then-Archbishop of Ljubljana. "I personally took a request to the Archbishop of Ljubljana, Alojzije Šuštar, to end my vows, in which I described Rupnik's abuses. I received no response."

Gloria was not the only one; other nuns also spoke about Rupnik's abuses to the then-provincial of the Jesuits, Lojze Bratina, reports Tednik. "He openly said: I don't believe you. He decided to believe Rupnik's interpretation, according to which we were women who falsified the truth," said Branciani, adding that no one took their side.

Painting, painter, art colony Ivan Marko Rupnik

The general public heard about Marko Rupnik in 1999, when, at the invitation of the then Pope John Paul II, he created mosaics in the Pope's personal chapel Redemptoris Mater in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, reports Tednik. Today, Rupnik is one of the most famous masters of sacred art, his mosaics are in shrines all over the world, from Lourdes and Fatima to Slovenian churches. He received the Prešeren Award, Pope John Paul II dedicated his spiritual and artistic Center to Aletti, and Pope Francis entrusted him with creating the logo for the Holy Year of Mercy.

Crying that lasted for hours

Mirjam Kovač was at that time the secretary of the superior of the Loyola Community, Ivanka Hosta. The nuns lived in several places, in Mengeš, Ljubljana, Trieste and Gorizia, Braga in Portugal and Rome. Mirjam came to Rome in 1989, studied and worked at Vatican Radio. In January 1993, when Gloria fled the community in Rome, the nuns truly came to an end for the first time.

"I saw the sisters crying several times. Inconsolable crying that lasted for hours and hours and that no words could stop. The sisters did not open up. They were forbidden to speak. Father Rupnik forbade them," says Mirjam. "But then, maybe because I was the secretary to the superior, maybe because I got along well with most of them, one by one they started coming to me. I counted at least twenty of them. They told me they wanted to tell me something related to the story we heard about Gloria. And all I could do was tell them to go to Ivanka. That's something she needs to hear."

"His manipulation began very subtly, he easily recognized my fragility, which is not difficult for a priest confessor. And he knew how to exploit these weak points," Kovačeva told Tednik.

Not only sexual, many nuns also accuse Rupnik of psychological and spiritual abuse. An act that is not recognized by canon law, and greater precision in canon law in dealing with such cases is now being studied by a special study group at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, as Cardinal Fernández said.

He was an excellent manipulator

"When I left the spiritual retreat, I was psychologically destroyed, I thought I was worthless," Mirjam recalls. "Just as he deepened other things in others, because he always found the weakest point in each one, he deepened my alleged worthlessness and incompetence in me. Maybe I could be a secretary, because I am very good at managing administrative matters, I can write, I can translate, but on a spiritual level I will never reach any depths. And since my deepest desire was precisely to go into the depths, this was a defeat for me. The monthly spiritual retreat was a great defeat for me."

Not only sexual, numerous nuns accuse Rupnik of psychological and spiritual abuse. The latter act is completely unknown in canon law. Photo: Dnevnik archive

"His manipulation began very subtly, he easily recognized my fragility, which is not difficult for a priest confessor. And he knew how to exploit these weak points. He told me that I had to integrate my femininity into my spirituality. My life choice was to take vows, and in doing so I needed spiritual guidance. But he told me: You have to live your feminine dimension only with me, because I am an integral part of you, I can help you in the spiritual integration of your femininity, with this you will achieve your full creativity. In reality, the path to hell was beginning for me."

No response in the Vatican, Rupnik is silent

The only known procedure that is taking place against Rupnik is the investigation of the dicastery led by Cardinal Fernández. Italian victim lawyer Laura Sgrò has filed five complaints, but there has been no response from the Vatican. In many cases, too much time has passed or the abuses have occurred in Slovenia, not Italy, so Italian courts can do nothing.

Lawyer Laura Sgro', left, talks to Mirjam Kovac, center, and Gloria Branciani, as they arrive for an interview with the Associated Press, in Rome, Friday, June 28, 2024. Kovac and Branciani are two of five women who urged Catholic bishops around the world to remove from their churches mosaics by ex-Jesuit artist Rev. Marko Rupnik after they accused him of psychologically, spiritually and sexually abusing them. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

"The Vatican has not said a word to the victims so far. It's been a year, a note would have been enough, thank you, we received your reports. Instead, nothing. The only proof that they even received our reports are the stamps, because I personally brought the documents to the dicastery. Otherwise, they would not have any paper," says the victims' lawyer Laura Sgrò 

If the Vatican is silent, the Jesuits, who collected the testimonies of nineteen nuns in a separate procedure and expelled Marko Rupnik from the order in 2023 for disobedience, acted differently. In a letter last week, they offered them support and the possibility of compensation.

Jesuits offer compensation to victims of Father Rupnik

Marko Rupnik remains silent, his Aletti art center in Rome said that they will reveal their side of the story only at the trial, which they hope will begin as soon as possible. When, if the trial is over, Rupnik may only be banned from practicing the priesthood, the Tednik program reported, adding that the circumstances of a separate accusation that Rupnik admitted to remain unknown. Because he absolved the woman with whom he had sexual relations of sin, he was excommunicated from the Church in May 2020. However, the measure was then lifted after less than a month of repentance and penance.

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