Five alleged victims of Father Marko Rupnik have written to Pope Leo XIV, criticising the Vatican’s secrecy over Rupnik’s trial and calling for transparency and impartiality in order to ensure a fair trial.

Released the open letter via their lawyer, Laura Sgrò, the five women have lamented the treatment they state they received for publicising their accusations against Fr Rupnik and criticising the Vatican’s own handling of the issue. Their letter comes just two days before Leo will fly to France for an apostolic voyage, during which he will meet privately with abuse victims.

The Pope’s visit to Lourdes has drawn particular attention due to the Rupnik mosaics adorning the basilica there. Given the intimate connection between his art and alleged abuse, the mosaics have now been hidden in time for Leo arrival. This decision, the five alleged victims welcomed as “a very powerful and courageous gesture that we greatly appreciated, especially since we have never felt any sense of solidarity toward us; on the contrary, we have always been strongly opposed and vilified.”

But here their praise ended, as they protested the secrecy of the Vatican’s trial into Rupnik which is ongoing. As Sgrò has previously noted, she and the alleged victims only learned that the disgraced priest’s trial was underway when media reports over the summer suggested the priest might be acquitted.

Though Sgrò is not representing the women in the Vatican’s court – since the trial is brought against Rupnik by the Holy See itself – she has stated the women have not been contacted by the Vatican to present any evidence. Sgrò has previously stated she has been “fobbed off” by the Vatican, as her repeated efforts to make contact with relevant officials have been fruitless.

The signatories of today’s letter are Gloria Branciani, Mirjam Kovac, Sister Samuelle, Vida Bernard and a woman using the pseudonym Pia. They wrote:  

“This resounding and prolonged silence is experienced by us, the victims, as yet another form of ongoing violence, which weighs down on us like a boulder, adding to the violence we have already endured. Sexual, physical, psychological, and spiritual violence – a prolonged violence against the soul – to which is now added this new and painful violence of silence and abandonment by the judicial system.”

Rupnik is accused of having committed serial abuse in multiple forms: sexual, physical, spiritual and psychological. This is said to be directly connected to his artwork, with alleged victims giving explicit detail of how he would abuse them while working on the notorious mosaics, at his Rome-based art centre, or in conjunction with the sacraments. More than one victim has accused him of demanding they engage in threesomes in honour of the Trinity, while one individual stated he told her to get an abortion if she became pregnant after he raped her.  

Since the accusations came to light in late 2022, Rupnik has received direct and indirect support from numerous figures in and around the Vatican, including from Pope Francis, officials at the Dicastery for Communication and his Aletti art centre.  

“We have been accused – or rather, slandered – of being prostitutes, liars, of having taken money to accuse Fr. Rupnik, and of having enriched ourselves through this horrific ordeal,” the women wrote to Leo. “Abused and vilified, we therefore continue, to endure violence amid the deathly silence and indifference of those who have been called upon to decide our fates.”

They added that their public treatment “only serves to discourage those who, like us, have suffered the same treatment and would like to come forward.”

As the women noted, Rupnik’s trial is underway after Pope Francis bowed to immense public scrutiny and tasked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to reopen the priest’s case in 2023. Judges were selected in October 2025, but despite the well-publicised accusations of serial abuse there is no detail about what precisely Rupnik is being tried for. Previously, sources have suggested he is only facing a trial for spiritual abuse, but in the absence of any formal details from the Vatican both speculation and criticism has only increased.

Responding to July rumours of an early acquittal for Rupnik, the Holy See Press Office defended the secrecy, stating that “during the proceedings, as with any judicial process, no information regarding the ongoing investigation may be shared in any way out of respect for the process itself and to avoid causing harm to all those involved in the matter, as has occurred in recent days.”

Unconvinced by news of the trial which is underway, the women told Leo that the “message that has come through from our complaints is this: it is useless to report abuse to church authorities, because nothing will happen anyway, no one will be held accountable, and the victims will never see justice.”

They state that they have “lost all trace of justice” and that “a trial held in obscurity offers no guarantees to anyone – neither to the defendant nor to the victims – and is incompatible with the very concepts of law, truth, justice, fairness, and mercy that you, Your Holiness, have always held dear.”

Pope Leo himself has only commented publicly on the Rupnik scandal on one occasion, in November last year. Speaking shortly after judges were finally appointed, he warned it would take a lengthy time. “The principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty also is true in the Church. Hopefully this trial that is just beginning will be able to bring some clarity and justice to all those involved,” he said.

Despite their concerns about the trial and the Vatican’s prior attitude regarding Rupnik, the five women expressed their hope that Leo would champion their cause. They issued a call for the Vatican to ensure that the trial be safeguarded from any possibility of corruption:

“We ask that the following be guaranteed at all times: the right of the parties to be heard, clarity, transparency, promptness, impartiality, and the independence of the judges, so that the trial and its outcome – whatever it may be – remain free of any shadow of doubt.”

Leo has shown more discomfort with Rupnik than his predecessor, moving quickly to order the removal of Rupnik’s art from the Vatican websites last year and ensuring that the mosaics on the basilica at Lourdes would be covered before he arrived. He has also replaced the prefect of the Dicastery for Communication – who publicly defended using Rupnik’s art in the midst of the controversy – and appointed former EWTN president Montse Alvarado instead.

Michael Haynes is an English journalist in the Holy See Press Corps. He serves as Vatican Correspondent for the Catholic Herald, while readers can follow him at Per Mariam and on X @MLJHaynes.

‍