(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV on Saturday accepted the resignation of Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich, who has deep ties to the disgraced Father Marko Rupnik, as the apostolic nuncio to the Netherlands, less than a year after being appointed to the position by Pope Francis.
On February 21, the Vatican announced that Pope Leo had accepted Speich’s resignation as apostolic nuncio to the Netherlands. Speich, who had allegedly been a longtime friend of the disgraced ex-Jesuit priest and notably allowed him to return to his diocese in 2023, had only been appointed as apostolic nuncio in April 2025 by Pope Francis, about a week before his death.
Speich, 71, had offered his resignation last June, when he turned 70, as is customary for Vatican diplomats. However, the Vatican typically allows diplomats to retain their positions until they turn 75, the standard retirement age for bishops. The archbishop was also notably appointed as the Netherlands’ apostolic nuncio just months before his 70th birthday, indicating that Francis had expected him to retain that position despite his age.
The Italian news site Silere Non Possum speculated that the true reason behind Speich’s resignation being accepted unexpectedly by the Vatican may have been due to his history with Rupnik. In June 2023, while Speich was the apostolic nuncio to Slovenia, Rupnik had sent a request to Bishop Jurij Bizjak, then bishop of Koper, to be incardinated into his native diocese after the Jesuit had been credibly accused of serial abuse and expelled from the order.
The outlet claims that after Bizjak had consulted Speich, the nuncio told him this would not be an issue because Rupnik had not been convicted of any of the allegations. In August 2023, the ex-Jesuit was officially received into the Diocese of Koper.
READ: Disgraced Fr. Marko Rupnik incardinated into Slovenian diocese despite history of abuse
Indeed, at the time, a spokesman for the diocese defended his incardination by citing the secular Declaration on Human Rights, article 11, stating: “Everyone who is accused of a criminal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until he is found guilty according to law, in a public proceeding in which he is given every opportunity necessary for his defence.”
“Until such time as the above sentence is pronounced on Rupnik, he enjoys all the rights and duties of diocesan priests,” the statement concluded.
As reported extensively by LifeSiteNews, Rupnik has been accused of sexually, spiritually, psychologically, and physically abusing nuns as well as male victims. The credibility of the well-documented allegations of Rupnik’s serial abuse is deemed to be “very high” by his former Jesuit superiors.
Alleged victims of the priest have attested that he raped women under his charge, that he told a former nun to get an abortion in case she became pregnant after raping her, and that Rupnik painted his notorious icons naked from the waist down and while sexually excited.
In 2023, Pope Francis delegated the case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (now Dicastery). In October 2025, the DDF announced that it had appointed a panel of five judges to decide the canonical trial of Rupnik.
READ: Vatican appoints judges to decide Rupnik sexual abuse case
The ex-Jesuit’s distinctive and disturbing “art,” which portrays Christ and the saints with large “black hole” eyes, had remained on display in the Vatican and several prominent churches even after the allegations against Rupnik came to light, though some have since been covered or removed.
In April 2025, Rupnik’s mosaics at the Marian Shrine of Lourdes was covered. Last June, less than a month into Pope Leo’s pontificate, the Vatican also quietly removed all images of Rupnik’s mosaics from its website.
Speich, who was ordained in 1982, has a long history of diplomatic service on multiple continents. In addition to the Netherlands and Slovenia, Speich was the apostolic nuncio to Ghana and Kosovo.
The prelate has also held various diplomatic roles in Nigeria, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Bolivia, Spain, Cuba, Egypt, and Haiti.
