The Society of Jesus has invited victims of abuse to contact its specialist team, in the wake of last week’s damaging revelations of its handling of allegations against a prominent Jesuit artist.
In a statement issued on 18 December, Fr Johan Verschueren SJ, a delegate for the society’s superior general Fr Arturo Sosa SJ, said that his “main concern in all this is for those who have suffered” by the actions of Fr Marko Rupnik SJ, who has faced a number of accusations including of “one of the worst forms of spiritual abuse”.
Fr Verschueren invited “anyone who wishes to make a new complaint or who wants to discuss complaints already made to contact me”.
“I assure you that you will be listened to with understanding and empathy,” he said.
The statement provided a timeline of allegations against Fr Rupnik – including spiritual abuse of a woman who had engaged in sexual activity with him, and later abuse in a Slovenian religious community – and the responses of the Society and the Vatican.
Fr Verschueren referred to a team established by the Jesuits some months ago, of “women and men, from various disciplines and with a variety of expertise in dealing with these situations”.
The service is accessible in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German via the email address teamreferente.dir@gmail.com.
Fr Sosa last week described Fr Rupnik’s case as “a good example of how much we still have to learn” about recognising suffering while following civil and canonical protocols.
“We seek to communicate this in a way that does not conceal the facts, while we also, enlightened by the Gospel and other human experience, try to open paths toward healing the wounds produced,” he told journalists on 14 December.
Fr Verschueren concluded his statement by emphasising that the society “wants to create a culture of safeguarding and that we are committed to the highest standards in our ministry”.
“We try to exclude that anybody runs the risk of being harmed in any of our ministries,” he said.
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