Rupnik rumors – and what might come next

Rumors began circulating in Rome Monday that the canonical trial of former Jesuit Fr. Marko Rupnik had come to a conclusion, without a conviction on the unspecified canonical crimes now being litigated through the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Those rumors are exactly that — unconfirmed and not specific, suggesting ambiguity about what precisely has happened in Rupnik’s canonical trial, and how much is known about the details.

The rumors have not been confirmed by The Pillar. But they have garnered a great deal of attention, in line with the fierce global interest among Catholics in the Rupnik story, and foreshadowing the magnitude of attention that will come with his eventual verdict.

And whatever comes of the rumored resolution in the Rupnik case, the case will inevitably close. When it does, the Apostolic See will have to be prepared for the unique double helix of a case like Rupnik’s — with institutional attention focused on both ensuring a just legal outcome, and managing the wave of expectations attached to the high-profile case with a difficult history.

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The rumors about a resolution to the Rupnik case center around reports and postings published July 20 on an Italian