Vatican defends secrecy as abuse trial of ex-Jesuit artist deepens transparency row

The Vatican confirmed on Wednesday that proceedings against Marko Rupnik, a renowned ex-Jesuit artist, remain active while defending the confidentiality of the trial as necessary to guarantee due process. According to the Associated Press, the church said the secrecy protects the rights of all parties involved. The case centres on five women who say they were sexually and spiritually abused by Rupnik, whose religious art and spiritual direction earned him international prominence before allegations surfaced.

The lawyer representing the five women issued a scathing denunciation of the Vatican's secretive legal system on Tuesday, according to AP reporting. She argued that her clients have no right to know the charges, no access to evidence, and no ability to confront their accuser—a procedural opacity that stands in stark contrast to secular courts across Europe and North America. The critique comes amid the broader #MeToo reckoning, which has exposed institutional resistance to transparency in abuse cases across religious and secular hierarchies alike.

The Vatican's defence of closed proceedings reflects a longstanding institutional practice: the Holy See operates its own legal system, separate from Italian law, with its own canon law courts and rules of evidence. Rupnik's case has become a focal point for a wider scrutiny of how the Church handles allegations against prominent figures. The artist, who spent decades as a Jesuit and created religious imagery venerated in Catholic communities worldwide, was laicised—removed from the priesthood—in 2023, though the Vatican did not publicly disclose the reason until the abuse allegations surfaced.

The timing of the Vatican's Wednesday statement suggests institutional pressure to respond. Foreign press coverage has intensified scrutiny of the Church's judicial opacity at a moment when Pope Francis has pledged reforms in abuse cases. Yet the Vatican's insistence on secrecy, even in a high-profile case involving a spiritually influential figure, signals the limits of those commitments. The closed trial proceedings mean neither the women nor the public will know the outcome unless the Vatican chooses to announce it—a discretion the Church has historically exercised sparingly in sensitive cases.

From Rome's vantage, the case reflects a broader tension between the Vatican's sovereignty as an independent city-state and the transparency standards now expected by secular democracies and international human rights bodies. Italy itself has no jurisdiction over the trial, as it unfolds within Vatican territory under canon law. Yet the reputational stakes extend to Rome's role as host to the Holy See and as a signatory to international conventions on accountability. The case will likely feature prominently in continued foreign press scrutiny of the Church's institutional resistance to disclosure.