The Jesuits "exhaustively" warned a Slovenian bishop that the incardination of a celebrity Catholic priest-artist facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse into his diocese was a grave mistake, it has emerged.
Father Johan Verschueren of the Society of Jesus suggested to Bishop Jurij Bizjak that the accusations against Fr Marko Rupnik, who was expelled from the Jesuits in June, are credible and warned that he should not be allowed to practice his ministry while investigations continue.
However Bizjak, who heads the diocese of Koper in the coastal region of Slovenia, ignored the warnings with reports emerging in late October that Rupnik had been allowed to return to the functions of his office in Slovenia from August onwards.
