VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
La Croix International [Montrouge Cedex, France]
June 25, 2024
By Loup Besmond de Senneville
The prefect of the Dicastery for Communication argued that destroying the works of the mosaic artist accused of multiple rapes and coercion was not a “Christian response.” In Rome and the Vatican, more than 40 places are adorned with mosaics by the former Jesuit.
The prefect for the Dicastery for Communications has argued against removing mosaics created by Marko Rupnik, the former Jesuit artist who is accused of numerous allegations of sexual abuse and abuse of power.
During the Catholic Media Association’s annual conference held in Atlanta, in the southeastern United States June 21, Paolo Ruffini, the prefect, attended as a guest speaker and was questioned about the Vatican’s official websites’ regular use of Rupnik’s mosaics.
The Slovenian mosaic artist, well-known in the Catholic world, was expelled from his order, the Society of Jesus, in July 2023 amid numerous complaints from women accusing him of rape, molestation, and coercion, all justified under spiritual pretenses.
“Removing, deleting, destroying art does not ever mean a good choice,” Ruffini justified, as the Jesuit magazine America reported. The Italian communicator emphasized waiting for the judgment from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, following an ongoing trial, before making a decision. “We are talking about stories we don’t know. Who am I to judge the Rupnik stories?” he argued, adding: “I feel as Christians we have to understand the closeness to the victims is important, but I don’t know that this [removing Marko Rupnik’s art] is the way of union [with them].”
These remarks reflect a broader Roman mindset. In the Eternal City, the works of the priest, now incardinated in a Slovenian diocese, are ubiquitous. The Italian capital boasts some 43 chapels or churches adorned with mosaics created by Marko Rupnik and his Aletti Center, an atelier under the protection of the Diocese of Rome. In addition, three other places are directly on Vatican territory, making up a fifth of Marko Rupnik’s 231 works worldwide.
In the Heart of the Vatican
His mosaics are displayed in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel, in the heart of the Apostolic Palace. Commissioned during St. John Paul II’s pontificate and inaugurated in 1999, they were described as a “grandiose work,” merging Eastern and Western traditions. The chapel, visited by those received by the pope on the palace’s second floor, features biblical scenes on its walls. Another Vatican location decorated similarly is the chapel of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, adorned with these famous mosaics since 2005.
Elsewhere in Rome, other significant locations feature Rupnik’s work. This includes the chapel of the major Pontifical Seminary. Since 2021, the main prayer space for Rome’s future priests has been adorned with paintings by the former Jesuits. For this occasion, old mosaics inaugurated in 1965 by Paul VI were hidden behind a wall erected in the choir to make way for Rupnik’s art. Covering the walls from floor to ceiling, the Slovenian artist’s designs span 1,700 square meters, depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments in saturating reds, oranges, and yellows.
“Can you imagine if we did that with Michelangelo?”
Many general curias, including the Roman headquarters of religious congregations worldwide, have also commissioned the mosaic artist. These include the Jesuits, Marianists, and Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. French seminarians in Rome also display Marko Rupnik’s work in their chapel and refectory, where they have their meals three times daily. Pontifical colleges, hospital clinics, and parishes complete this long list.
“We are not going to remove these works; there is no reason to do so,” a Curia cardinal retorted. “Can you imagine if we did that with Michelangelo?” This argument, often cited alongside Caravaggio, accused of being a murderer and, by some, a pedophile, was also used in Atlanta by the Holy See’s highest communication official.