Ahead of Lourdes visit, alleged Rupnik victims appeal to pope to end Vatican’s ‘prolonged silence’

Five alleged victims of sexual abuse by Slovenian priest Marko Rupnik sent an open letter to Pope Leo XIV asking him to end the Vatican's silence regarding the priest's canonical trial. Their lawyer, Laura Sgro, shared the letter on September 23. The signatories, Gloria Branciani, Mirjam Kovac, Sister Samuelle, Vida Bernard, and an anonymous person using the pseudonym Pia, stated that the lack of information regarding the trial acts as an ongoing form of violence and abandonment by the justice system.

The appeal comes as Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to arrive in Lourdes on September 26. The priest faces accusations of sexually and spiritually abusing more than two dozen women over several decades. In March 2025, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes ordered that mosaics created by Rupnik be covered at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary following the allegations.