After an Italian television program broadcast the charges of three women who reported spiritual and sexual abuse, Father Rupnik declined to speak with reporters.
But the Slovenian bishop who welcomed the accused priest into his diocese after he was expelled from the Jesuit order has defended his decision, saying, “I really doubt whether the accusations against Father Rupnik have any basis at all.”
Bishop Jurij Bizjak (who retired last November, at the age of 77) said that he approved the incardination of Father Rupnik into the Diocese of Koper “in consensus with the Holy See.”
He reasoned: “As long as he has not been convicted by any court of law, he is presumed innocent.”