Defender Claims Unproven Abuse Claims in Expulsion of Jesuit Priest.

The head of the Aletti Center, a religious art and culture center founded by Jesuit priest Marko Ivan Rupnik, has defended him against allegations of sexual, spiritual, and psychological abuse against adult women. Rupnik was expelled from the Jesuit religious order on June 9 for "stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience." Rupnik is one of the most celebrated religious artists in the Catholic Church, and his mosaics decorate churches and basilicas around the world, including at the Vatican. The case posed a problem for the Vatican, the pope, and the Jesuits because of suspicions that the charismatic priest received preferential treatment by the Holy See, where a Jesuit pope reigns and Jesuit priests are in top positions at the sex abuse office.