Mosaic artwork decorating one of the world’s most famous healing shrines will be covered ahead of a papal visit later this month, a move long sought by abuse survivors and victim-advocates after the artist who designed the mosaics was exposed as a serial abuser.
Disgraced former Jesuit Marko Rupnik was expelled from his former religious order for disobedience in 2023 and later incardinated in the diocese of Koper in his native Slovenia, despite numerous “highly credible” allegations of serial psychological, spiritual, and sexual abuse against numerous victims, most of them women religious.
Rupnik was a celebrity figure for decades, during which he used his status and “creative process” to abuse dozens of women. Artwork by Rupnik and his students adorns shrines and chapels around the world, including in the Vatican.
The Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Jean-Marc Micas, made the announcement in an interview published Thursday with French newspaper La Dépêche du Midi.
Micas said “all the artwork on the façade” of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary would be covered ahead of Leo’s Sept. 26-27 visit and will remain covered going forward.
The pontiff’s visit to the Marian healing shrine is part of a larger Sept. 25-28 visit to France.
“The Holy Father’s visit to Lourdes is an opportunity to take a further step on this matter,” Micas said, also explaining that the artwork would be removed as a sign of respect to victims of abuse.
RELATED: Lourdes bishop ponders removal of Rupnik mosaics in light of abuse claims
Rupnik is accused of the sexual abuse of more than two dozen women over multiple decades, many of them nuns, and is currently facing a Vatican trial.
The topic of his artwork has come under much discussion and multiple survivors of sexual abuse have advocated for the removal of it from prominent Church places.
RELATED: Connecticut Catholic apostolates wrestle with fate of Rupnik artwork
The debate around Rupnik’s artwork at Lourdes – a major Marian site that many Catholics visit – has been one of the most vociferous, and the process of removing Rupnik’s artwork has been underway for a while.
In March 2023, Micas began considering the future of the mosaics after the accusations of spiritual, psychological and sexual abuse perpetrated by the Slovenian Jesuit came to light.
Micas set up a working group to examine the issue – including specialists in sacred art and victims of abuse – and in July 2024 he announced that he thought it preferable to remove the artwork.
RELATED: Lourdes bishop faces resistance on removal of Rupnik art
This began in March 2025, when the mosaics on the basilica door were covered. Micas explained this was to prevent Rupnik’s artwork being an obstacle for entry into the church for people who had suffered abuse.
Micas has said in the past that much of his decision-making has been informed by discussion with abuse victims.
Rupnik’s trial
In July, the Vatican was forced to deny rumours circulating on social media that a verdict had been reached in Rupnik’s trial and that he had been found innocent.
“Reports concerning any deliberation by the judges handling the case of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik are entirely unfounded,” a statement from the press office of the Holy See said.
RELATED: Vatican denies rumors of Rupnik acquittal
This happened shortly after the lawyer representing five of the women, sent a letter to Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, head of the Vatican department responsible for trying the priest.
The letter from Laura Sgrò complained of procedural irregularities, apparent foot-dragging, and a frustrating lack of transparency.
RELATED: In Rupnik case, the cost of secrecy is visible
In the letter, Sgrò suggests that neither she nor her clients have been officially told the trial is even underway, let alone how far the proceedings have progressed. She says her clients have not been called to testify, nor even been informed who the judges in the case are.
Sgrò says she has not even received notice of a ruling on her clients’ motion to be admitted as injured parties in the process.
These are “some basic, fundamental questions regarding a criminal proceeding,” Sgrò wrote, “involving victims who first reported their abuse over thirty years ago.”
“Has the trial begun? If so, what is its current status? Who are the judges? What was the outcome of my clients’ requests to be admitted as injured parties in the proceedings? Why have these women not been heard as witnesses?” Sgrò wrote.
“My clients feel abandoned and betrayed,” Sgrò told the prefect, “victims, once again, of a system that has never welcomed, protected, or comforted them.”
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