As the Catholic world reels from yet another embarrassing scandal, prominent Synodalists have managed to make a bad situation even worse by spreading insensitive and deranged conspiracy theories.
‘Artist’ Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik was revealed to have been accused of sexual misconduct, relating to incidents that occurred in the 1990s and a 2021 incident where he heard confession from a woman that he had been sexually involved with.
The Superior of the Jesuits has said that Rupnik was excommunicated for the latter act.
The Pillar has a thorough explanation of the charges here.
As the scandal brings much suffering to the victims alongside shame and embarrassment to the Vatican, the Jesuits and the wider church, one prominent Synodalist took a strange view on social media.
Synodalist Christopher Lamb wrote that the ‘goal’ of the ‘leaking’ of the story was to ‘damage Pope Francis’.
Social media users were completely disgusted by Lamb’s comments, writing:
Some said that it was offensive to victims of abuse.
Another called on him to apologise and accused him of victim shaming.
Some called it ‘hypocrisy’ to call for greater transparency while at the same time criticising reporting of this important story.
Others were even more forthright in criticism.
