By NICOLE WINFIELD
ROME (AP) — The Knights of Columbus, an influential Catholic charitable organization, announced Thursday it will cover up its mosaics made by a famous ex-Jesuit artist accused of abusing women as a sign of solidarity with victims of abuse.
After studying the issue, the Knights said they would for now place fabric over the mosaics at its shrine in Washington D.C., and at the chapel of its headquarters in New Haven, Conn. A permanent plaster covering “may be in order” depending on the outcome of the Vatican’s investigation into the Rev. Marko Rupnik, the group said in a statement.
Rupnik, a charismatic Slovene, has been accused by over 20 women of psychological, spiritual and sexual abuses over decades. But the Vatican and the Jesuits long ignored their complaints, until they burst into public domain in late 2022.
The decision by the Knights to cover their mosaics marks the first announcement by a major church, organization or diocese to heed victims’ requests to cover or remove the works that are in the public domain.
Rupnik’s mosaics grace some of the most important and most-visited Catholic shrines and basilicas around the world, including at Lourdes, France and Fatima, Portugal. The scandal about his alleged abuse posed the question about what to do with the mosaics because some of his victims say they were harmed during the creation of the artwork and the mosaics were a triggering and traumatic reminder of what they had endured.
The bishop of Lourdes earlier this month put off any decision for now on what to do with the mosaics that decorate the facade of the popular Marian sanctuary.
The Jesuits expelled Rupnik from the order last year, and Pope Francis ordered a new trial against him following an outcry that his victims hadn’t received justice and suspicions that he had been protected by Jesuits up to and including the pope.
He hasn’t responded to the allegations and refused to cooperate with an investigation by his former Jesuit order, which determined that the women’s claims against him were “very highly credible.” But his collaborators have denounced what they called a media “lynching” against him.
The debate over what to do with his artwork exploded anew last month after the Vatican’s communications chief, Paolo Ruffini, strongly defended continuing to use Rupnik’s artwork on the Vatican News website.
His defense prompted the pope’s top anti-abuse adviser, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, to send a letter to all Vatican offices urging them to stop featuring Rupnik’s artwork. O’Malley said continuing to promote it ignores the pain of victims and could imply a defense of the Slovene priest.
The Knights have been a big donor to the Vatican communications operations, and are currently funding the restoration of the baldacchino altar canopy in St. Peter’s Basilica.
