MOSAICS in Lourdes by the Slovenian artist and former Jesuit Fr Marko Rupnik are to be covered up before the pilgrimage season gets under way. Twenty women’s allegations that he sexually, psychologically, and spiritually abused them remain untried in any ecclesiastical court.

The first claims against the artist, whose work is prominently featured in shrines, basilicas, and sanctuaries around the world, including the Vatican, were made by a former nun, Gloria Branciani, in 1993. In December 2022, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith instigated a canonical investigation, but dismissed the case, referring to the 20-year statute of limitation under canon law.

What Roman Catholic news agencies have described as Fr Rupnik’s “exalted status” in the Church and at the Vatican is suggested to have saved him, together with the fact that the women were not minors at the time of the alleged abuse.

The Jesuits admitted in late 2022 that Fr Rupnik had been excommunicated for a short time in 2020 for using the confessional to absolve a woman with whom he had engaged in sexual activity. He was expelled from the order in January 2023.

Last week, it was reported that the 20 victims had been offered reparation.

Pope Francis, himself a Jesuit, has waived the statute of limitations to allow a proper canonical trial to take place, but, while the investigations are reported to be complete, no tribunal has yet been convened. Fr Rupnik is reported to have made no response to the allegations.

The mosaics on entrance to the Basilica of the Rosary in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, in south-western France, illustrate aspects of the rosary. They have troubled many Roman Catholics. Last July, the Bishop of Tarbes & Lourdes, Msgr Jean-Marc Micas, made a decision to cease illuminating them at night during the candlelit rosary processions.

He announced on Monday of last week that they would now be covered with aluminium panels: an approach that he described as “long-term, for the victims, for the Church, for Lourdes, and for its message to the world”. The action would, he said, facilitate access to the basilica for those who currently felt unable to cross its threshold.