The Knights of Columbus have announced the organization will cover mosaics by ex-Jesuit Father Mark Rupnik at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington and the Holy Family Chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut.
In a July 11 statement, the Knights said the decision came at “the conclusion of a careful and thorough process.” The mosaics will be obscured by fabric “which will remain in place at least until the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) issues its decision on the pending sexual abuse cases against artist Father Marko Rupnik,” when “a permanent plaster covering may be in order.”
Father Rupnik, whose distinctive mosaics are known for their oversized black, almond-shaped eyes, was expelled from the Society of Jesus in 2023 after refusing to obey their measures imposed in response to credible accusations that he spiritually, psychologically or sexually abused some two dozen women and at least one man. However, he remains a priest living and working in Rome as the director of art and dean of theology at Centro Aletti, the religious art community he founded in 1991.
The Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said in the statement, “Shrines are places of healing, prayer and reconciliation. They should not cause victims further suffering.”
