Overview
- On Wednesday, July 22, 2026, the Holy See press office told journalists that judges have not issued any decision and are still examining documentation from dioceses, the Jesuits, the parties involved, and the press.
- An Italian blog's earlier report that Father Marko Ivan Rupnik had been acquitted prompted the Vatican denial and a public outcry from victims' lawyer Laura Sgrò, who says her five clients were never interviewed and received no replies to repeated requests for case information.
- More than two dozen women have accused Rupnik of sexual, spiritual, or psychological abuse spanning roughly three decades, and the Jesuits expelled him in 2023 after finding the allegations highly credible.
- Under canon law victims are treated as third‑party witnesses with no access to files or to the status of proceedings, and a 2019 reform only guarantees them knowledge of the final outcome, not the steps of a trial.
- The Vatican says the panel may seek further information if needed, leaving open the possibility that judges will request additional testimony or documents before reaching any verdict.