The Catholic order of Jesuits, to which Pope Francis belongs, said Thursday it has expelled a Slovenian priest and world-renowned mosaic artist accused of sexual and psychological abuse.

Marko Rupnik, 68, was expelled on June 9 “due to his obstinate refusal to observe the vow of obedience,” the order said in a statement.

Rupnik has yet to comment on the allegations. He has 30 days to appeal, the order said.

Rupnik was sanctioned by the order twice over claims of abuse against members of a community of adult religious women in Slovenia in the early 1990s.

Dating from the mid-1980s to 2018, they include complaints of spiritual and psychological abuse as well as sexual harassment, including from within the Slovenian community and an artistic centre in Rome.

The order had previously banned him from receiving confession and prohibited him from any public artistic exercise, particularly in religious buildings such as chapels or churches.

The Jesuits — one of the main Roman Catholic orders, founded in 1540 — also revealed last year that Rupnik had been briefly excommunicated in 2020 for absolving someone for having sexual relations with him.

He was reinstated after he acknowledged his wrongdoing and formally repented, the order said.