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TURIN, Italy (OSV News) -- Alleged victims of Father Marko Rupnik welcomed the decisions of the Knights of Columbus and Lourdes sanctuary regarding the ex-Jesuit's mosaics, saying they are "grateful." "Words are not enough to show solidarity with the victims; actions are needed," one of the women told OSV News.
The Knights of Columbus announced July 11 the Catholic fraternal organization will cover mosaics by Father Rupnik at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington and the Holy Family Chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut.
The Knights said the decision came at "the conclusion of a careful and thorough process."The mosaics will be obscured by fabric "which will remain in place at least until the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) issues its decision on the pending sexual abuse cases against artist Father Marko Rupnik."
In Lourdes, where Father Rupnik's mosaics cover the facade of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, though the mosaics will stay for now, the sanctuary announced July 2, "it will eventually be necessary" to remove them, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes said.
In the meantime, they will not be lit "during the Marian procession that brings pilgrims together every evening. This is a first step," the bishop said.
"It’s a gesture to the victims, pending further action," the sanctuary’s press officer, Marie Etcheverry, told OSV News July 3.
"I welcome any choice made regarding Rupnik's art in support of victims. I am grateful for the words of care for our hurt feelings of abuse," Gloria Branciani, a former sister of the Loyola Community said. Branciani has said that she was psychologically, spiritually and sexually abused by the artist in the 1990s.
Father Rupnik is under Vatican investigation after having been accused by between 20 and 40 women of spiritual and sexual abuse, with accusations made public in 2022.
In December 2022, Rome's Jesuit headquarters disclosed it had suspended the Rome-based priest and famous mosaic artist from membership after sexual abuse claims, but Jesuit officials said the claims had been dismissed by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith because of the church's 20-year statute of limitations.
In June 2023, the Jesuit order said it had expelled Father Rupnik for disobedience after it compiled a 150-page dossier of credible accusations against him.
However, on Oct. 27, 2023, Pope Francis waived the statute of limitations and instructed the doctrinal dicastery to initiate a new investigation after the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors had highlighted "serious problems" in handling his case.
Commenting on the decisions not to light up or furtherly expose the mosaics at the Lourdes and Washington shrines, respectively, Branciani told OSV News that "personally, I can confirm that the artistic inspiration in Rupnik originates from and is nourished precisely by spiritual, conscience and physical abuse."
She said that the decisions by Bishop Micas and the Knights "are the first positive responses of the church," and that she sees them "as the beginning of an ecclesial journey toward a conscious and responsible assumption of the trauma that I and the other victims of Rupnik have suffered."
Mirjam Kovac, also a former religious sister and now academic lecturer, told OSV News she is "grateful to the Knights of Columbus for this step of sensitivity to victims of abuse in the church." Kovac testified against Father Rupnik during his first canonical trial, in which she accused the priest of abuse, and community superior Ivanka Hosta of cover-up.
Kovac said she hopes "that other similar decisions will follow from people responsible for the places where Marko Rupnik's mosaics are found."
Laura Sgrò, a lawyer for Branciani, Kovac and three other victims of the former Jesuit, sent a letter to bishops and religious superiors around the world in late June, asking for the removal of the mosaics from public sight, saying their continued display in places of worship was "inappropriate" and retraumatizing to victims.
"Finally, something is moving and some are beginning to understand that words are not enough to show solidarity with the victims, actions are needed," said Sister Samuelle, who allegedly was harassed by Father Rupnik during the time she worked as a mosaicist at Rome's Centro Aletti, the spiritual and art studio founded by Father Rupnik, in the early 1990s.
"It is important that these measures were taken not only out of respect for the victims, but also for the many faithful and pilgrims who frequent these sacred places," Sister Samuelle told OSV News.
Even if the mosaics of the priest are not being removed permanently but only obscured, it is important that they are covered, the alleged victims said, so that the link between the abuser and his art is recognized.
"In the end, we do not desire the destruction of the works because it would be a further violence," the French nun explained. "We ask that the works that are the result of abuse not be displayed in places of prayer."
Meanwhile, new mosaics by Centro Aletti are still being installed in various churches in the world, with the latest one unveiled May 26 in northern Italy in a local church in Conegliano Veneto, a town a few miles from Venice. It depicts the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.The work, measuring 160 square meters (1,722 square feet), was created with the permission of the Italian bishops' conference and blessed by Bishop Corrado Pizziolo of Vittorio Veneto.
The cost of the mosaics is not publicly disclosed by Centro Aletti. However, Father Pietro Bortolini of the parish, Santa Maria delle Grazie, told OSV News that in his parish church, the mosaics cost 160,000 euros, or 1,000 euros per square meter ($172,000 for 1,722 square feet).
The inauguration of new mosaics in northern Italy’s Conegliano Veneto came two weeks after a festive public unveiling of the south facade of the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil on May 11.
Centro Aletti lists at least 230 places where the mosaics, characteristic for the black eyes of their biblical and saintly protagonists, are displayed around the globe -- the list includes world-renown sanctuaries such as San Giovanni Rotondo in Italy where St. Padre Pio is buried, and Marian sanctuary in Fatima, Portugal.
Patricia Duarte, communications officer of the Fatima shrine in Portugal, told OSV News that "while repudiating the acts committed by Rupnik," the sanctuary does not intend to consider removing the mosaic panel at the Basilica of the Holy Trinity.
"However," Duarte added, "since learning of the allegations, we have suspended all use of images -- of the entire work and (its) details -- in our promotional materials."
Sister Samuelle said that the answer of local churches and sanctuaries to the call not to display Father Rupnik's art "is related to the culture in which the works are placed."
"In the United States, the cultural and ecclesial context is different from that in France or Italy. There is a greater sensitivity to the suffering of the victims," Sister Samuelle said. "The good thing about raising the issue of Rupnik's works is that it forces people to reflect on the issue of abuse in the church," she added.
Satisfied with the recent decisions regarding art in Lourdes and Washington, the alleged victims are awaiting information from the DDF regarding the status of the canonical process of Father Rupnik.
"It is essential that the Vatican takes responsibility for making a decision because the debate on the works is closely linked to the violence and manipulation for which Rupnik is under indictment," Sister Samuelle said.
- - - Federica Tourn writes for OSV News from Turin, Italy.