The priest died in 2012.
A Milan-based news site reported that Father De Luca, who led the Eucharistic Youth Movement from 1967 to 1998, was accused of sexual abusing five teenage girls in the 1990s.
The news site reported that two victims came forward in 2010 and that the priest lived as a “recluse” during the last two years of his life.
Three additional victims came forward in March of this year—which likely accounts for the Jesuit province’s announcement, long after the Society became aware of the abuse.