Below is the full statement of the DIR delegate, Johan Verschueren SJ on the resignation of Fr. Marko Rupnik
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We inform with a grieving heart that on June 9, 2023, Fr. General dismissed from the Society of Jesus Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik (DIR / SVN). This was done in accordance with canon law, due to his stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.
The “Referee Team in cases of complaints against Jesuits belonging to the DIR” handed us its dossier in February 2023 relating to the numerous complaints of all kinds that have reached us, coming from very different sources and for events that occurred over a period of time more than 30 years regarding Father Rupnik. As Superiors, we considered the degree of credibility of what was reported or witnessed to be very high and we followed the indications and recommendations provided to us by the Referent Team in its final considerations.
So we forced Father Marko Rupnik to change communities and accept a new mission in which we offered him one last chance as a Jesuit to come to terms with his past and to give a clear signal to the many injured people who testified against him, in order to enter a path of truth. In the face of Marko Rupnik’s repeated refusal to obey this mandate, unfortunately we were left with only one solution: resignation from the Society of Jesus.
Now, from 14 June 2023, the date on which he received the decree of dismissal, in accordance with the canonical norms, he now has 30 days to appeal. In this period we have to limit ourselves to this official communication to allow the procedures to have their course.
If and only when the resignation from the Society of Fr. Marko Rupnik becomes definitive, it will be possible to deepen the themes. Not before.
Delegate DIR
Johan Verschueren SJ
