Communication to the Friends of the Aletti Center (18/09/2023)

From the website of the Vicariate of the Diocese of Rome:

Our translation:

COMMUNICATION OF THE VICARIATE OF THE DIOCESE OF ROME REGARDING THE CONCLUSION OF THE CANONICAL VISITATION OF THE ALETTI CENTER

Following reports disseminated by news outlets as well as communications signed by Fr. Johan Verschueren, SJ, Delegate of the Father General for the Interprovincial Jesuit Houses in Rome, on the subject of Fr. Marko Rupnik and touching also on the Aletti Center, the Cardinal Vicar of Rome decreed, on January 16, 2023, the opening of a canonical visitation of the Public Association of the Faithful “Centro Aletti,” which was erected on June 5, 2019 within the Diocese of Rome. The purpose of this visitation was to investigate “the associative dynamics [of the community] and to ascertain whether the questions raised by certain accusations were founded in reality.” This investigation was entrusted to the Most Reverend Fr. Giacomo Incitti, Ordinary Professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical Urban University (Urbaniana).

The canonical visitation took place with the particular objectives of “assessing the manner in which the Association is managed and the effective functioning of its governing structures; examining the life of the community in all its aspects, including the members’ relationships with the Founder and with the group of those who exercise responsibility, as well as the relational dynamics among the members themselves, with reference … also to the period preceding June 5, 2019.” The inquiry was conducted with diligence and discretion, through meetings involving the community as a whole as well as a large number of personal interviews with current members of the community and many persons who have had various types of contact with the life and the activities of the Center. On June 23, 2023, the Visitator presented his final report.

From that report, it clearly appears that the Aletti Center has a healthy community life, free of any particular critical issues. The Visitator was able to ascertain that the members of the Aletti Center, though deeply pained by the accusations and by the way in which these accusations have been handled, have chosen to maintain silence – notwithstanding the vehemence of the media – in order to safeguard the heart and to refrain from claiming a kind of irreproachability, by which they would then make themselves the judges of others. According to the judgement of the Visitator, this affair has helped those living the experience of the Aletti Center to strengthen their trust in the Lord, in the awareness that the gift of God’s life also makes its way through trials.

At the same time, new exigencies, which emerged and were evaluated in the light of the decision on the part of the Society of Jesus to end collaboration with the Aletti Center, required a few initial, necessary modifications to the Association’s Statutes. These modifications, however, have left intact the purpose of the Association as envisioned in its founding.

On the basis of this final report, the Cardinal Vicar, having verified the lack of substantive grounds for further measures within his competence, has declared the canonical visitation closed.

Per the explicit request made in the Visitator’s decree of appointment, given the repercussions the above-mentioned accusations have had on the Association’s life, the Visitator also conscientiously examined the principal accusations made against Fr. Rupnik, particularly that which led to the request for an excommunication. On the basis of the study of copious documentation, the Visitator noticed and flagged grossly irregular procedures, the examination of which has generated serious doubt about the very excommunication that was requested.

Given the gravity of such findings, the Cardinal Vicar has handed over the report to the competent authorities.

September 18, 2023