Despite the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith recently announcing the appointment of judges for the canonical trial of Marko Ivan Rupnik, the Slovenian priest accused of abusing several nuns continues to exercise his ministry without any restriction. Nothing seems to undermine his freedom of movement nor his ecclesial influence. Guaranteeing him this privilege — or rather, this protection — have been figures such as Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, then the Pope’s Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, and now Cardinal Baldassare Reina, his successor, who should be supervising the Centro Aletti, which has instead become a sort of extraterritorial zone, beyond any effective control.
In the past, De Donatis had already stood out for defending the Centro Aletti, the institute founded by Rupnik, appointing a so-called “third-party visitor” who, far from being independent, turned out to be a “friendly tourist.” The result of that visitation was an “acquittal” for the Center, which effectively covered up years of violations of the restrictions imposed on the Slovenian priest by the Society of Jesus.
This summer, while Silere non possum denounced the inappropriateness of the “jubilee outing” organized by Msgr. Gianpiero Palmieri, archbishop-bishop of Ascoli Piceno and San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto, at the Casa Santa Severa of the Centro Aletti with his diocesan priests, Father Marko Ivan Rupnik was preaching in the same place — welcomed by faithful and priests as if nothing had happened, in an atmosphere of normality that cries out for scandal.
Palmieri, a man from De Donatis’ inner circle, not only ignored every call for prudence but also tried to delegitimize criticism, accusing those who raised concerns of being polemical and unqualified to speak. It is the usual dynamic: those who denounce are discredited, while those who cover up are rewarded. Palmieri knows this mechanism well — he navigates it skillfully, accustomed as he is to elbowing his way through ecclesiastical salons to obtain what he wants, only to react hysterically whenever a collaborator or priest dares to remind him that the center of the universe does not coincide with his person.
Palmieri and the priests from the Marche region stayed at the Centro Santa Severa on June 26–27, while Rupnikpreached there from June 29 to July 3. Leading the exercises for Palmieri and his clergy was Father Ivan Bresciani, for years part of the Centro Aletti’s leadership, who not only failed to prevent Rupnik from violating the Jesuit restrictions but also covered and supported him. And despite this, Palmieri, following De Donatis’ indication, chose to incardinate Bresciani in the Diocese of Ascoli Piceno, thereby rewarding one of those who helped perpetuate the code of silence.
The truth is that Rupnik, once dismissed from the Society of Jesus, managed to build himself a perfect escape route. He was incardinated in the Diocese of Koper (Capodistria), welcomed kindly by his friend Msgr. Jurij Bizjak. The procedure was a canonical farce: canon 269 of the Code of Canon Law requires the bishop to verify the conduct and moral suitability of the cleric before accepting him — but what need is there to verify, when everyone knows and no one wants to see?
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