The Society of Jesus is offering reparations to about 20 women who say they were sexually, psychologically, and spiritually abused by the disgraced ex-Jesuit artist Father Marko Rupnik.
Rupnik is accused of having committed serious sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse of dozens of religious sisters under his spiritual care over decades. His case is currently under investigation by the Vatican.
Father Johan Versuchen, Rupnik’s former superior and current general counsellor and delegate for the Interprovincial Houses and Works of the Society of Jesus in Rome, said he sent a letter to the women who have come forward with accusations against Rupnik, offering an open invitation to reparations, according to The Associated Press.
While the letters were not made public out of respect to the alleged victims, some excerpts were shared by Laura Sgrò, a lawyer for the alleged victims, Religion News Service reported.
In the letters, Versuchen reportedly lamented that Rupnik had not publicly taken responsibility for his actions nor repented. He told The Associated Press that in the letters he invited alleged victims to share what they needed and how the order can meet that need.
Versuchen also reportedly offered to start a “process of healing” and shared that the Jesuit order is “uneasy” with the situation and aware that “the various kinds of violence suffered at the time are compounded by the pain caused by the lack of listening and justice for many years.”
Sgrò thanked the Jesuits for the gesture of reparation and called on the Vatican in the statement to follow “the example of the Society of Jesus and bring Marko Rupnik to trial as soon as possible, restoring dignity to the victims.”
“There really can be no more delay now; justice just has to be done,” she said.
In Sgrò’s statement, the alleged victims thanked Versuchen for “acknowledging the mistakes made thus far” and having “finally welcomed and embraced the victims of Marko Rupnik, offering them the support that had been lacking until now.”
The Jesuits want to protect the privacy of the alleged victims and do not plan to share future information on dialogue with them, Versuchen told RNS.
“Any eventual journey toward reparation will depend entirely on the person who was invited,” Versuchen told RNS.
“We wrote the letter because we, too, need reparation and healing,” he continued. “We have a lot to learn from them, and to do better in the future, to avoid any type of abuse in the company of Jesus.”
This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
