- Feb 5, 2002
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Five years after Pope Francis’ summit on fighting clerical sexual abuse, a Rome lawyer had advice for religious womensexually abused by priests: Go to the police.
Laura Sgrò, a civil and canon lawyer known for arguing high-profile cases at the Vatican, made the remarks Feb. 21 as she accompanied two of her clients to a news conference where they appealed publicly to Pope Francis to investigate the handling of allegations of abuse by Father Marko Rupnik and to make the report public.
Kovac, a former sister and former secretary of the Loyola Community, a religious order founded with Father Rupnik’s help in Slovenia in the 1980s, said she had heard from at least 20 of the 41 members of the community that they were sexually abused by Father Rupnik.
Gloria Branciani, 59, was one of them. She told reporters his manipulation of her was so unrelenting, so devious and so tied to her desire to serve God with her whole being that, after years, he even convinced her to have sex with him and another sister so that they could “reflect the Trinity.”
She thought suicide was her only escape, she said, and the only way to get Father Rupnik to stop what he was doing to the women in the community.
Continued below.
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Laura Sgrò, a civil and canon lawyer known for arguing high-profile cases at the Vatican, made the remarks Feb. 21 as she accompanied two of her clients to a news conference where they appealed publicly to Pope Francis to investigate the handling of allegations of abuse by Father Marko Rupnik and to make the report public.
Rupnik’s abuse detailed
Many accusations against clerics — especially well-known clerics — continue to bounce off a “rubber wall” that shields the Church as an institution, protects abusers and keeps victims and survivors in the dark, said Mirjam Kovac, who has tried for three decades to get officials to take seriously allegations against Father Rupnik.Kovac, a former sister and former secretary of the Loyola Community, a religious order founded with Father Rupnik’s help in Slovenia in the 1980s, said she had heard from at least 20 of the 41 members of the community that they were sexually abused by Father Rupnik.
Gloria Branciani, 59, was one of them. She told reporters his manipulation of her was so unrelenting, so devious and so tied to her desire to serve God with her whole being that, after years, he even convinced her to have sex with him and another sister so that they could “reflect the Trinity.”
She thought suicide was her only escape, she said, and the only way to get Father Rupnik to stop what he was doing to the women in the community.
Continued below.
Abuse victim of Father Rupnik describes his expert and evil manipulation
Five years after Pope Francis' summit on fighting clerical sexual abuse, a Rome lawyer had advice for religious women sexually abused by priests: Go to the police.Laura Sgrò, a civil and canon lawyer known for arguing high-profile cases at the Vatican, made the remarks Feb. 21 as she accompanied...
www.oursundayvisitor.com
