Jesuits confirm expulsion of priest artist and lament Vatican norms preclude further sanction

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — The Jesuits say a famous artist priest has been definitively expelled from the religious order for sexually, spiritually and psychologically abusing women. The Jesuits say the Rev. Marko Rupnik remains a Catholic priest but is no longer a Jesuit priest, after he didn’t appeal his June expulsion from the Jesuits to the Vatican. Rupnik is a Slovenian priest and is one of the most celebrated religious artists in the Catholic Church. His mosaics decorate churches and basilicas around the world, including at the Vatican.