Knights of Columbus to Cover Mosaics By Alleged Abuser Rupnik At D.C., Connecticut Chapels
The move comes as the priest faces allegations of abusing at least 20 religious sisters over the course of decades.
By Gary Gately
Elaborate mosaics by disgraced artist Father Marko Rupnik will be covered by fabric at two prominent chapels under pastoral care of the Knights of Columbus, the 2.1 million-member Catholic fraternal organization announced.
The Knights said removal of the floor-to-ceiling mosaics in a chapel at St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., and the Holy Family Chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut, came after an “extensive” review of abuse allegations against Rupnik.
The mosaics could be permanently plastered over after completion of a formal Vatican investigation into Rupnik’s alleged psychological, spiritual and sexual abuse of more than 20 religious sisters over the span of decades, the Knights said.
Some of the women alleged that the abuse occurred while Rupnik created his artworks at Centro Aletti, an art school he founded in Rome.
“The Knights of Columbus has decided to cover these mosaics because our first concern must be for victims of sexual abuse, who have already suffered immensely, and who may be further injured by the ongoing display of the mosaics,” Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said in a news release.
“Shrines are places of healing, prayer and reconciliation. They should not cause victims further suffering.”
Rupnik’s works appear at hundreds of Catholic shrines, churches and chapels across the world, including the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace and the Marian sites the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France and the Sanctuary of Fatima in Portugal.
Kelly said the decision came after the organization consulted with alleged sexual abuse victims and those who minister to them as well as theologians, artists, historians, clergy and pilgrims who visit shrines where Rupnik’s art is displayed
“While opinions varied among those consulted, there was a strong consensus to prioritize the needs of victims, especially because the allegations are current, unresolved and horrific,” Kelly said.
The Society of Jesus expelled Rupnik in June 2023 after a lengthy investigation found the “degree of credibility” to the abuse allegations against him to be “very high.”
Last month, Cardinal Seán O’Malley, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which is charged with protecting from abuse both children and adults, wrote in a letter to Vatican dicasteries: “Pastoral prudence would prevent displaying artwork in a way that could imply either exoneration or a subtle defense [of alleged perpetrators of abuse] or indicate indifference to the pain and suffering of so many victims of abuse.
“We must avoid sending a message that the Holy See is oblivious to the psychological distress that so many are suffering.”
O’Malley said in the letter that alleged victims of abuse had reached out to the commission to “express their increasing frustration and concern at the continued use of artwork by Father Marko Rupnik by several Vatican offices.”
Italian media reported some of the women’s allegations in late 2022, and in October 2023, Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations and ordered the Vatican’s disciplinary body, the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, to review the sexual abuse allegations against Rupnik, a Slovenian priest.
At the time, the Holy See Press Office said in a statement that a month earlier, Vatican officials had “brought to the Pope's attention that there were serious problems in the handling of the Fr. Marko Rupnik case and lack of outreach to victims.”
“Consequently, the Holy Father asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to review the case,” the statement said.