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Vatican City - There is a painful paradox running through the Church today: in the attempt—at least on the surface—to purify religious communities from alleged irregularities or deviations, a system of abuse of power and manipulation is being replicated that rivals the worldly logics it seeks to combat. A parallel, as painful as it is real, can be drawn with the case of Judge Silvana Saguto, an Italian magistrate engaged in the fight against the mafia in Sicily, who nonetheless managed seized assets with equally mafia-like methods. What presented itself as a crusade for justice ultimately revealed itself as a parallel apparatus of abuse, favouritism, and legal violations. Some, rightly, have called it: “The anti-mafia mafia.”
Similarly, within today’s Church—particularly within certain ecclesiastical dynamics and practices adopted even by the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life—abuses of power are occurring that deeply wound individuals and communities. Under the pretext of protecting certain individuals or minority groups within a community, genuine purges take place: abbots, abbesses, and superiors are forced to resign, without transparent processes, often under unverified accusations, and sometimes without even being told what they are accused of. The primary interest of these general superiors and commissioners seems to be changing the signatures on the bank accounts.
One of the most emblematic examples is that of the Bose community, where—as thoroughly documented by Silere non possum—the founder Enzo Bianchi and other monks and nuns close to him were expelled. All this occurred in a complete lack of transparency and with grave violations of canon law, as well as the natural right to defence and a good name. No public explanation, no real confrontation, only measures imposed from above. The damage is not merely institutional: it is spiritual and psychological, leaving wounds in individuals and in the communities, including those connected to these monasteries for emotional and spiritual reasons.
Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani denounced this practice in a courageous and clear letter. He explained, with no small amount of pain, that in the Church today a mere accusation is enough to eliminate an enemy, without concern for who makes the accusation, whether there is evidence, or what the real motivations might be. It is the triumph of a summary justice, where truth no longer matters, but rather political or ideological expediency.
In this context, the confusion between the internal and external forum becomes devastating. In some situations, those in authority within a Congregation also exercise spiritual guidance over the consciences of some of its members. This is clearly a serious risk. When authority is used to exert control, and spiritual discernment becomes manipulation of consciences, we are facing a grave abuse. Hannah Arendt spoke of the “banality of evil” to describe how ordinary people, convinced they are doing good, can become part of destructive mechanisms. The same happens in the ecclesial sphere: there are people who act, perhaps in good faith, believing they are “saving” a community or person, but they are in turn being used or blinded by ideologies, resentments, or personal ambitions.
Even worse is when all of this is spiritualised. The phrases many victims of these abuses have heard are chilling: “We do this for your own good,” “The Lord is asking you to climb onto the cross,” “I care about you, but I must act this way for your good, it is God who asks it of you.” Or from those who have committed severe abuses of authority and have been rightly denounced: “I have learned from St Francis. I do not report because I want to forgive.” Words that annihilate any possibility of justice, that mortify the truth, and that make God complicit in nefarious actions. Statements made by those fully aware they will get away with it, strengthened by their own power. Philosopher and psychologist M. Scott Peck, in his book People of the Lie, described how spiritual manipulators disguise themselves as religious people, cloaking evil in the language of good. Even within the Church, spiritual abuse is among the gravest because it uses God as justification.
It is no coincidence that many cardinals, bishops, priests, religious, and laypeople are today exasperated by this rhetoric. Silence is no longer an option. The Code of Canon Law should foresee severe penalties for those who abuse their authority or offend the dignity of individuals, and ecclesiastical tribunals must be credible. Juvenal once asked:Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
The Protected of Pope Francis
We witnessed this with the Rupnik scandal, exposed by Silere non possum, where Pope Francis protected all those who had helped the religious avoid trial. Media means have been used to offer fake narratives, such as Pope Francis' lifting of the statute of limitations, but in reality everything has stayed that way. Rupnik never gave an account of what he was accused of before an independent tribunal.
The same applies to Mauro Gambetti, who continues to use the media to try to clean his image, responding to the well-documented articles ofSilere non possum—full of documents and proof—with statements that are frankly ridiculous, provoking laughter from many who comment: “How can he call it nonsense when the document is right there, clearly displayed on the site?”
It is clear these individuals live in their own world and fail to realise their actions worsen their position, which has been protected for years by Pope Francis, but the chairs are beginning to wobble. In recent days, the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (which we will address shortly) hosted Gambetti on a podcast, in what seemed like a clumsy attempt at public rehabilitation. Some even found it amusing that the friar, who even his own family did not want in their business, spoke about work.
Appearing on video wearing a habit he hasn’t worn in over four years—visibly ironed and now ill-fitting—Gambetti claimed that everything written about him is false, but that he does not wish to press charges; he prefers to pray. Yes, the very same who has been last to arrive at prayer moments, even for the deceased Pope, giving rise to comments among the cardinals who know full well what he has been up to in the Basilica these years. They call him “head in the clouds.”
Who is speaking falsehoods? The Vatican Gendarmerie or Mauro Gambetti? Who proposed a lawsuit against Alfio Pergolizzi, luring him into the Vatican and setting a trap? Silere non possum has already refuted these claims with documented facts and testimonies that remain unanswered. Gambetti chose to denounce innocent people, unrelated to the matter, once again showing a tendency to target the weak. But he has never dared to denounce those who exposed the authentic documents concerning him. Documents which, unlike his statements, are real, precise, and—unless proven otherwise—indisputable. Since “Brother Mauro” claims to want to “clarify matters by speaking,” we await him with open arms.
In conclusion, the clumsy attempt to spiritualise the abuses committed over these years—from the harm inflicted on the Chapter to the psychological harassment and dismissal of Vatican employees—marks the most perverse form of spiritual and power abuse committed by these figures, who have ruined every reality they touched. The time for complicity and silence must end. Spiritual and conscience abuse is a grave sin because it distorts the image of God and wounds souls. Those who act in such a manner must be held accountable. It is not enough to invoke forgiveness or spiritualise evil. “The truth will set you free” (Jn 8:32), Christ said. And only in truth can the Church once again be truly a mother, and not a stepmother.
S.C.
Silere non possum