How Rupnik Art is Scandalizing Catholic Priests and Laity To This Day

[00:00:00]A young Catholic priest has apologized for celebrating mass in front of a Marko Rupnik mosaic, and now he's asking, "Why is this art displayed, and why aren't we warned about it?"

[00:00:10]>> [chanting] >> Hi, I'm Robert with Ad Fontes Canum, and today we're diving into the strange and disturbing world of disgraced Jesuit priest Marko Rupnik. Father Pierre Alexandre Colon, who was only ordained 1 year ago, recently celebrated mass at the Bon Conseil Chapel located within the Archdiocese of Paris. The mosaic is an interpretation of the vision of the heavenly liturgy from the Book of Revelation. At the center sits God the Father with the Lamb of God sitting in his lap. Flanking the throne are the four winged creatures described in the Book of Revelation. And on the exterior of the mosaic, we can see the litany of saints, the Virgin Mary, Saint Therese of Lisieux, John the Baptist, Don Bosco, and others. So, why did this priest feel so blindsided by a simple mosaic on the wall behind the altar? Well, once you understand the accusations leveled against Marko Rupnik and how the Vatican has been handling the situation, you'll quickly come to understand.

[00:01:04]So, Marko Rupnik was on track to become one of the most prominent, prolific, and influential Catholic artists of the century. He began his formal artistic training while already a member of the Society of Jesus. He enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and later specialized in missiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1995, Rupnik was appointed director at the newly founded spiritual arts division of the Centro Aletti in Rome.

[00:01:26]Rather than creating small stand-alone panels, Rupnik's studio became a massive enterprise built to design monumental installations meant to entirely cover the interior and exterior walls of sacred spaces, sometimes spanning hundreds or thousands of square meters.

[00:01:40]By the 2000s, Centro Aletti had completed over 230 mosaic projects across the globe. Rupnik's art became uniquely embedded in the official aesthetic fabric of the post-Vatican II global church. He was repeatedly commissioned to decorate some of the most high-profile locations in the Catholic world. The Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, as well as the Chapel for the Dicastery for Divine Worship, the facades of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lourdes, the Basilica of the Holy Trinity in Fatima, and the Shrine of Saint Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo, and the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, all have Marko Rupnik work on the interior. His illustrations were also frequently chosen for official Catholic publications, altar missals, and liturgical vestments. Rupnik's work popularized a style often termed modern iconography or faux primitivism, which attempted to bridge the gap between contemporary Western modernism and ancient Byzantine traditions. His works are recognized by bright, blocky colors, sweeping golden fields, wobbly lines, and a minimalist rendering of human forms. The most iconic and distinct feature of his human and divine figures is their oversized solid black eyes.

[00:02:45]Even before his abuse scandals became public, traditional art critics frequently targeted his work. They argued that his style abandoned the strict anatomical precision and light-centric rules of traditional Byzantine iconography in favor of non-representational whimsy. Others highlighted controversial theological liberties in his designs, such as his frequent practice of drawing a single shared eye between figures of God and man, a feature historically reserved solely for the persons of the Holy Trinity. So, Marko Rupnik's career had really taken off. His art was embedded into the walls of Catholic churches and shrines all over the world. But, in 2020, things began to crumble around him. It became public that the Vatican formally excommunicated Rupnik for absolving a woman in confession with whom he had previously engaged in sexual activity. Under Catholic canon law, using the sacrament of reconciliation to absolve one's own sexual partner is a major offense that triggers automatic excommunication.

[00:03:36]This excommunication was lifted a few weeks later after he formally repented.

[00:03:40]Many Catholics thought that this was a little quick to lift the excommunication and that a longer period of penance should have been required. From here, more than two dozen women, mostly former members of the Loyola community in Slovenia, had come forward with harrowing accounts of manipulation. The allegations state that Rupnik systematically used his status as a charismatic spiritual guru to break down the boundaries of young religious sisters.

[00:04:02]Former sisters alleged that Rupnik coerced them into sexual acts, and the testimony is so dark and sacrilegious that I'm not even going to repeat it here.

[00:04:10]Victims reported that their vows of religious obedience and religious ideals were weaponized against them, trapping them in situations of profound psychological control.

[00:04:18]Allegations also include instances where he forced women to watch pornography under the guise of spiritual formation.

[00:04:24]Other victims, including an international mosaic artist and religious sister who worked alongside Rupnik, have described his global mosaic work sites as a praying ground. Women alleged that he subjected them to severe mental and sexual abuse directly on the work space scaffolding or while they were posing as artistic models for figures like the Virgin Mary. Now, this is all sick twisted stuff, right? And one would imagine that the Vatican would be all over this. Well, not initially.

[00:04:48]For years, the Vatican dismissed formal prosecution of the broader abuse allegations because the events occurred in the 1980s and the 1990s, meaning the canonical 20-year statute of limitations had expired. However, after severe public pushback and accusations of a cover-up, the Vatican decided to take further action. First, the Society of Jesus officially expelled Rupnik from the religious order in June of 2023.

[00:05:09]Then later that same year, Pope Francis officially waived the statute of limitations, allowing the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to launch a comprehensive disciplinary and penal trial against Rupnik.

[00:05:20]A panel of five independent including priests and women outside the Vatican bureaucracy was officially appointed to oversee the canonical trial, which is currently ongoing.

[00:05:29]I have to say, and I know this is the Vatican style, but things are truly moving at a snail's pace. I hope they can get this resolved soon. So, where do we stand now with the existing Rupnik art? Well, we've seen some progress. The most significant institutional action came from the Vatican News and the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication.

[00:05:44]For years, the official news portal regularly used digital images of Rupnik's mosaics to illustrate major liturgical feast days on its calendar.

[00:05:52]The Vatican quietly scrubbed these digital reproductions from its official websites.

[00:05:56]Because many of Rupnik's large-scale projects are embedded directly into structural stone or structural walls, removing them entirely without destroying the facade of a building is highly complex. As a result, major shrines have opted to hide them from view. First, at Our Lady of Lourdes in France, as an interim step, the shrine first stopped illuminating the mosaics during its famous nightly candlelight processions. Then the sanctuary installed temporary panels to completely cover the mosaics on the basilica's main entrance. Then at the Saint John Paul the Second National Shrine in Washington, D.C., a local Knights of Columbus Council demanded something be done about the art. The executive leadership subsequently installed coverings over the extensive Rupnik mosaics located inside the shrine's chapels. Then the Knights of Columbus took similar measures at their headquarters in Connecticut.

[00:06:40]Some other churches and shrines have tried to find a middle ground. The Fatima Shrine features an enormous floor-to-ceiling gold mosaic by Rupnik covering the back wall of its Basilica of the Holy Trinity. While shrine administrators pushed back on destroying the multi-million dollar installation, they instituted a strict ban on using any photography or details of the mosaic in their promotional, catechetical, or distributed materials.

[00:07:01]So my question is, if these mosaics are scandalizing young Catholic priests and lay people alike, why isn't the church taken a jackhammer to all of them? Well, the organization Centro Aletti, which Rupnik was a part of, defended the pieces and argued that the mosaics are collective works created by dozens of artists in prayer rather than a solo venture signed by Rupnik alone. They believe that transcendent art can and must be separated from the artist. But it seems that most dioceses are operating under a wait-and-see approach.

[00:07:28]The verdict of the ongoing canonical trial might serve as a turning point since the evidence could go from being alleged to proven.

[00:07:34]If and when the time comes to replace these mosaics and other art pieces, I think raising the funds to do so will be pretty straightforward. Parishioners will understand that the damage that those black eyes can do to the soul, knowing the alleged history of the artist, is something worth painting over, even at the cost of the church aesthetic. So, let me know in the comments, has the Catholic Church done enough when it comes to handling the situation? And is it acceptable that this art still exists anywhere years after the allegations have come out? So, thanks for watching and let us pray for the salvation of souls and the one holy and apostolic Catholic Church. So, before I sign off, I want to talk about Ad Fontes Canones. This is a new site that can give you all the Catholic news and analysis that you could ever hope for. They're covering all the big stories of the day from within Vatican City to outside the walls and around the world. Whether it's uncovering the deep theological rifts left in the wake of the post-Vatican II era or tracking the intense global scandals shaking modern dioceses to their core, Ad Fontes Canones is committed to giving you the unvarnished truth, the historical context, and the critical analysis that mainstream headlines miss. If you want to stay informed on the stories that are actively shaping the faith, the liturgy, and the global hierarchy, head over to adfontescanones.com and make your free account today. Then make sure to subscribe to the Ad Fontes Canones YouTube channel, where I'll be making regular exclusive content.