(LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes said during a late July interview that part of the mosaics created by the disgraced former Jesuit Father Marko Ivan Rupnik in Lourdes will be covered during Pope Leo XIV’s visit next month.
During an interview with OSV News published July 24, Micas told the outlet that part of Rupnik’s mosaics inside the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes will “remain” covered during Pope Leo’s September 27 visit to the church out of respect for his alleged victims and all survivors of clerical abuse, who often make pilgrimages to Lourdes. LifeSiteNews can confirm, however, that Rupnik’s mosaics were on full display as recently as May.
As extensively reported by LifeSiteNews, Rupnik has been accused of sexually, spiritually, psychologically, and physically abusing nuns as well as male victims. The credibility of the well-documented allegations of Rupnik’s serial abuse is deemed to be “very high” by his former Jesuit superiors.
“I realized when I arrived as bishop of the place that Lourdes is Lourdes because of the Immaculate Conception,” the bishop said during the interview. “Lourdes is considered as a very important place by victims of sexual abuse … because with the Immaculate Conception, they can find consolation and maybe some cure.”
Bishop Micas also recalled a recent visit to the basilica by Sister Samuelle, a French mosaicist and one of the ex-Jesuit’s alleged victims. He stressed that “after having received and listened to some people being victims of sexual abuses,” he understood that abuse victims may feel deterred from visiting the holy site due to some of the artwork on display.
“My mission is to allow anyone to get into the sanctuary and to go to the grotto … to get consolation after what they lived (through). It wasn’t that easy, but it was obvious this is what has to be done,” the bishop added.
READ: Lawyer for Rupnik’s alleged abuse victims decries ‘total secrecy’ of trial
Alleged victims of the disgraced priest have attested that he raped women under his charge, that he told a former nun to get an abortion in case she became pregnant after raping her, and that Rupnik’s sexual abuse is deeply linked to his icons, which used his victims as models.
Indeed, Rupnik has also become notorious for his distinctive and disturbing “art,” which portrays Christ and the saints with large “black hole” eyes. In addition to their deeply disturbing nature, Catholic writers and art historians such as Hillary White have written extensively on how Rupnik’s “artwork” is in fact a demonic “parody” of medieval art and traditional Byzantine iconography.
While Micas ordered Rupnik’s mosaics on the Basilica’s doors to be partially covered in March 2025, LifeSiteNews can confirm that Rupnik’s artwork was fully on display this May.
In addition to Lourdes, Rupnik’s disturbing art had remained on display in the Vatican and several prominent churches. These include the Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, which houses the relics of St. Padre Pio, and the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., though some of these pieces have since been covered or removed.
In 2023, Pope Francis delegated the case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (now Dicastery). In October 2023, the DDF announced that it had appointed a panel of five judges to decide the canonical trial of Rupnik.
READ: Vatican denies reports suggesting alleged abuser Fr. Rupnik cleared by court
In July, MessainLatino and AdVaticanum reported just two days earlier that a five-judge panel had acquitted Rupnik of all allegations of “violence” in his alleged acts of sexual abuse. The sources indicated to the outlets that the court has not ruled on all allegations of sexual abuse themselves, and a further case is being prepared against the ex-Jesuit. However, just days later, the Holy See Press Office issued a statement denying that Rupnik had been acquitted, stating that the assessment of the case remained underway.
Despite Rupnik’s case being very high profile, canonical trials before the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) are kept under seal unless the Vatican decides otherwise. Thus, the Holy See may not disclose any details about the proceedings that has led some to question the lack of transparency in such a high-profile case.