How does Pope Leo solve the twin problems of Rupnik and Cardinal Cipriani?

Images of Marko Rupnik's mosaics have been removed from the Vatican news site Vatican news. The decision represents a first sign of acceleration by the Holy See on the case of the former Jesuit accused of having abused, over a period of thirty years, numerous religious women during his career as a world-renowned artist and theologian.

His was a particularly controversial case, not least because of his friendship with Pope Francis. The latter, after hesitating for a long time, was finally convinced that the accusations were well-founded and, in 2023, lifted the statute of limitations for the cases in question, allowing the dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to proceed with the investigation and initiate canonical proceedings.

In a statement published in October 2023, the Vatican stated that "in September, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors reported to the pope serious problems in the handling of Fr Marko Rupnik's case and the lack of closeness to the victims. Consequently, the Holy Father asked the dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to examine the case and decided to waive the statute of limitations to allow a trial to take place'.

The issue of the canonical trial against Rupnik is far from over. At the end of March, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, had explained that the trial was delayed because they were "looking for judges who must have certain characteristics since it is such a media case".

The prefect had hinted that some profiles had been identified but that they still had to confirm their availability.  Now, however, with Leo XIV, things could be different, and the fact that Vatican websites have stopped using images from the works of the former Jesuit seems to be a sign that something is moving.

"We have learned that the Vatican news site has finally removed the images taken by Marko Rupnik from the liturgical pages. The use of such images," said lawyer Laura Sgrò, "had been repeatedly reported by the victims I assist, considering it inappropriate to say the least, as a source of further pain for them. The news was welcomed by my clients, who put a lot of trust in Pope Leo XIV and are confident that Rupnik will be brought to trial quickly'.

Previously, Rupnik's mosaics had been covered, for the same reason, in the shrine at Lourdes, in the national shrine of St John Paul II in Washington and in the Chapel of the Holy Family at the Knights of Columbus headquarters in New Haven. Father Hans Zollner, a Jesuit, one of the foremost experts in the handling of abuse cases, and director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told the American Catholic news agency OSV news: 'I hope that, as soon as possible, we will have a verdict. It has been a long time coming, especially for those who made the accusations'.

There is something rotten in Peru

Rupnik's is not the only thorny case the Pope has to get to grips with: in Peru, a country where Prevost lived for a long time, the Pontiff has to deal with the affair of Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani.

The latter, 81 years old, a former powerful Archbishop of Lima belonging to Opus Dei, had been hit with a measure by Francis in 2019 because he was accused of sexually molesting a teenager in the 1980s. These sanctions included that he could not wear the Cardinal's insignia, could not return to Peru without being authorised, could not make public statements and could not participate in a future Conclave if he was still old enough to do so.

Cipriani ignored practically all these rules, even going so far as to turn up in Rome for the Conclave where he could not take part in the election of the pope due to his age, but still attended several ceremonies and pre-Conclave general congregations, causing a certain amount of consternation in Latin American public opinion.

Although the cardinal has always denied the accusations, the Vatican has confirmed the measures against him. Moreover, Cipriani, who has been an ardent supporter of the extreme right in Latin America, remained, at least as long as it was possible, on good terms with the founder of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, Luis Fernando Figari, a nostalgic organisation of fascism spread in dozens of countries, born in Peru in the early 1970s, suppressed in recent months at the behest of Bergoglio.

The movement was in fact overwhelmed by a series of scandals linked to sexual abuse, also committed by its founder, and illicit financial operations.

So Leo XIV is called to the challenge of tackling the scandal of sexual abuse in the church in all its aspects, starting with those who, for various reasons, can enjoy high and strong protections.  It is no coincidence, then, that the pope wanted to meet, on 5 June last, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, with whom he spent an hour to get an update on the progress of work on the new universal guidelines to combat abuse, a tool to help local churches, which the Vatican body is finalising and intends to present to the Pope by the end of the year.

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