TURIN, Italy (OSV News) -- It's been 500 days since the Oct. 27, 2023, papal lifting of the statute of limitations in the case of Father Marko Rupnik, the Slovenian ex-Jesuit who has been accused of spiritual and sexual abuse by at least 20 women, and developments are ongoing.

On March 9, three alleged victims shared testimonies of their interactions with Father Rupnik on a prime time Italian television program, and when reporters tried to speak with Father Rupnik, he refused.

At the same time, the retired bishop of the Diocese of Koper, where Father Rupnik was incardinated in August 2023, told OSV News that the priest "continues his work all over the world."

And finally, according to a source close to the Vatican, Father Rupnik is to be tried under the canonical crime of "spiritual abuse" and "false mysticism" -- a crime mentioned during the Nov. 22, 2024, audience of Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández with Pope Francis and published in a "foglio," or summary of the discussion, by the Vatican. "The sentence is expected in the not too distant future," the source told OSV News.

The public learned about the grave abuse allegations made against Father Rupnik by former sisters of the Loyola Community on Dec. 18, 2022.

On March 9, alleged victims of Father Rupnik gave an interview for "Le Iene," a popular Italian investigative program by Roberta Rei and Marco Occhipinti, which aired in prime time on Italia 1.

Gloria Branciani, Mirjam Kovac and Sister Samuelle repeated an account given to Domani in December 2022 of alleged sexual and spiritual violence.

"I suffered several psychological abuses, but with sexual overtones, by Marko Rupnik," said Sister Samuelle, who is a mosaic artist. "If 30 years ago, the church had listened to Gloria and the others, 25 years later there would not be my story."

Branciani was 21 years old and a medical student at Sapienza University in Rome when the alleged abuse started. On the advice of a sister in her parish, she turned to Father Rupnik for spiritual guidance.

She said the former Jesuit invited her to be his model and that the sessions were designed "precisely to (the) physical arousal" of the priest, she said.

Branciani said that if she tried to object, Father Rupnik's alleged reaction would be violent, psychologically attacking her and isolating her from the rest of the community.

"If I didn't let him hug me or caress me, he would start talking badly about me to others," Branciani recalled. Kovac confirmed the alleged mechanism of manipulation: "He told me that I could no longer be friends with Gloria. So it was easier to control us."

On the TV program, the women confirmed their earlier testimony, in which they stated that Father Rupnik allegedly justified the acts on theological grounds, going so far as to propose a three-way sexual relationship.

In an interview with OSV News and authors of the Italian podcast "La Confessione" ("The Confession") and "La Scomunica," Bishop Jurij Bizjak, who retired Nov. 29, 2024, from the Diocese of Koper, said Jan. 31 that Father Rupnik, whom he knows personally, "continues his work all over the world," including recent trips to Brazil and China.

Bishop Bizjak, who handed over the diocese to Bishop Peter Štumpf on Feb. 1, said that for those surprised Father Rupnik is not living in the diocese, the diocese also has missionaries who "are for the whole world and ... don't have to be here."

OSV News has asked the prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith over email whether preventative measures have been taken to prevent further possible abuse by Father Rupnik as he continues to travel and work. OSV News is awaiting a reply.

When Bishop Bizjak was asked why he decided to incardinate the disgraced Jesuit into the diocese -- despite his expulsion from the Society of Jesus and information obtained about the priest from that order -- he said that Father Rupnik had appealed to him first because Rupnik had been born in that diocese and because the two had a personal relationship, having been born in neighboring parishes. "You are my neighbor," Bishop Bizjak said Father Rupnik told him.

Speaking about the accusations against Father Rupnik, Bishop Bizjak added that while "spiritual abuse is a very special, very sensitive term," he made the decision to incardinate Father Rupnik into the diocese "freely."

Bishop Bizjak said that "he had no condemnation that could prevent that," only "suspicions," and that he "did everything in consensus with the Holy See," he said, adding "you have to wait for judgment."

"Now, let's wait what will happen, but I personally feel that this time is a bit too long" to wait, he said.

In an interview with Slovenian media Vecer on Feb. 16, Bishop Bizjak also said that "as long as he has not been convicted by any court of law, he is presumed innocent. I have often regretted that a man's good name is too easily bartered with."

"I do not know how many of these suspicions and allegations there are, but until there is a document proving him guilty, that is the way it will be," he added. "I really doubt whether the accusations against Father Rupnik have any basis at all."According to alleged victims, roughly half of the Loyola Community members allegedly were abused by Father Rupnik.

The community was disbanded with an Oct. 20, 2023, Vatican decree due to serious abuses of power by its founder, former sister of the Loyola Community Ivanka Hosta, who established the group in Slovenia in 1982 alongside Father Rupnik.

In December 2023, the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life appointed Canossian Father Amedeo Cencini, Sister Marisa Adami of the Sisters of the Holy Family, and Francican Father Viktor Papež (who has since resigned) to oversee the closure of this diocesan-right women's religious community by Oct. 20, 2024.

The dicastery however has given Father Cencini another year to finalize the closure, a decision announced by the Italian diocese of Trieste Oct. 21, "considering the complexity of the administrative issues."

The responsibilities of Father Cencini's group included selling the community's real estate and ensuring a proper transition for the 45 former nuns, who were released from their vows Oct. 20, the Diocese of Trieste confirmed. According to the former members, they have been left without clear support for the future.

"The task of Father Cencini and Sister Marisa was to manage the assets, sell the properties, and create a support fund for the sisters during this difficult transition," Fabrizia Raguso, a former member of the Loyola Community, told OSV News. "But this has not happened. There has been no explanation on when or how we will be compensated, and the whole process lacks transparency. Those who left before the community was suppressed haven't been contacted either."

The women told OSV News that no financial support has been provided for them, and many are struggling, the former member said. One former nun is now employed "precariously" after working without a contract; others are "homeless," the woman testified.

"We've been told we'll receive assistance based on our needs, but in the meantime, those of us who can, must help the others," said Carola, another former sister, who did not want her real name to be revealed.

A source close to the case said, however, that "the effort is to find satisfaction for those who have been hurt by this affair," and that in order to fully implement the decree of suppression, "it is necessary to sell all the assets of the community" in "various properties present in different countries. Having vacated the properties at the end of September last year (2024), work has begun to put them up for sale and the first deed of sale is expected in the coming weeks.”

Asked by the alleged lack of support for the sisters, the source said that first the "'mapping out' the different situations of each" needed to take place, and that "some small support has been provided to the situations of greatest difficulty, considering the significant differences that exist in terms of working conditions, economic conditions, and countries in which they are located."

The source confirmed that "of course, there is not only financial support, but also, and above all, psychological and spiritual support. As far as possible -- given also the distances -- an attempt was made to establish contact with each of them, recommending as much as possible that they not be alone in facing the new situation, but that they have a guide."

Cardinal Fernández, speaking to Spanish Catholic media Alfa y Omega Jan. 23, said that the dicastery had finished "gathering information” and at that point was working to create a tribunal.

"I think of many other cases, including others that are worse but less publicized," Cardinal Fernández said. "We cannot think of a new law for just one case, because that would limit the vision and harm the work's objectivity."

Cardinal Fernández also confirmed in the interview that "many dicasteries continuously received complaints on situations in which spiritual elements were used as an excuse or motivation to have sexual relations (by a priest with a catechist, for example).

"In these cases, there is a manipulation of people who confide in a spiritual guide and, at the same time, a manipulation of the spiritual beauty of our faith to receive sex," he said.

When asked about the status of Father Rupnik's case in December 2024, two years after allegations against Father Rupnik became public, Irish Archbishop John Kennedy, who serves as secretary of the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that "the case is still progressing and, as such, I find that I cannot comment."

Archbishop Kennedy, who was ordained bishop on Sept. 28, 2024 told OSV News in a written response to questions posed over email that "by speaking about one case and not about another, just because the name of the accused may be widely known, demonstrates little sensitivity to other cases and could overshadow the suffering of other victims who do not have louder voices to call attention to their situation."

He said: "For me, one case of abuse is already one too many and every case, in my view, is urgent."

- - - Federica Tourn writes for OSV News from Turin, Italy.