Two former nuns revealed on Wednesday that a renowned artist priest had forced them to participate in threesomes and watch pornography under the guise of spiritual growth. Slovenian mosaic artist Marko Rupnik, 69, has been accused of sexually and psychologically abusing at least 20 women over nearly three decades at a religious community in Slovenia. “He took me to pornographic theaters in order to help me ‘grow spiritually’,” said Gloria Branciani, a former member of the community until 1994, during a press conference in Rome. She explained that he claimed she would not spiritually develop unless she met his sexual demands, and he sexualized religious concepts. “Another nun joined us in sexual activities because he said it was similar to the Trinity,” Branciani added, referring to the Christian doctrine of three persons in one God. Rupnik was temporarily excommunicated in 2020 for absolving a person who had engaged in sexual relations with him, but was later reinstated after apologizing. He was ultimately expelled from the Jesuit order, to which Pope Francis belongs, in June. In October, Francis removed the statute of limitations on the offenses, potentially paving the way for disciplinary actions. Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the abuse tracking site Bishop Accountability, described Rupnik as a “powerful cleric who was shielded at the highest levels of the Church and the Vatican.” The press conference comes after five years since a landmark summit at the Vatican on sexual abuse within the Church, where Francis vowed to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy. Barrett Doyle pointed out that the Rupnik case demonstrates that little progress has been made, calling for an independent investigation and the public release of its conclusions.
