Vatican investigator says claims of Jesuit abuse true

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — A Vatican-appointed investigator who helped bring to light decades-old allegations of sexual and spiritual abuse against a famous Jesuit priest is calling for the hierarchs who hid his crimes to “humbly ask the world to forgive the scandal.” In correspondence obtained Monday, Bishop Daniele Libanori also said the claims of the women about the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik were true. Libanori penned the letter Sunday to fellow priests after a remarkable week in which the Jesuits admitted that Rupnik, an artist whose mosaics grace churches and chapels around the world, had been excommunicated for using the confessional to absolve a woman with whom he had engaged in sexual activity.