Lourdes bishop says shrine will cover all Rupnik mosaics ahead of pope’s visit to France

The bishop who oversees the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France has said the popular Catholic pilgrimage site will cover all of its mosaics by disgraced priest Father Marko Rupnik ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s visit next month.

Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes told the French daily La Dépêche du Midi on Aug. 20 that “all of the works on the façade” of the Basilica of the Rosary will be covered and redecorated out of respect for abuse victims. He also said they will remain covered going forward.

EWTN News confirmed the report with the press office of the shrine. Details about how the mosaics are to be covered and when were not yet available.

Micas’ decision to cover the mosaics comes just over a month before Pope Leo’s scheduled visit to France, which will include a stop at the popular Marian apparition site in Lourdes from Sept. 26–27.

The visibility of the mosaics by Rupnik, an accused sexual abuser currently undergoing a Vatican trial, risked becoming the literal backdrop of Leo’s rosary procession and other events at Lourdes.

The topic of sexual abuse and care for victims is still likely to come up in the pope’s meeting with French bishops on Sept. 27, though the pontiff is not expected to address the status of Rupnik’s case.

The Vatican has also said Leo will meet privately with victims of abuse sometime during his France trip, but no other details have been shared.

Covering all of Rupnik’s mosaics is the Lourdes bishop’s most dramatic step yet with regard to the artworks by the priest-artist. The mosaics were added to the neo-Gothic facade of the lower Lourdes basilica at the end of 2007.

Rupnik, who has been accused of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse of religious sisters, was removed from the Jesuits in June 2023 and is currently facing a canonical trial at the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith over the allegations he abused dozens of women religious, including some within the context of the creation of his art.

Micas formed a commission in May 2023 to discuss the future of the Rupnik mosaics. Since July 2024, the art has no longer been lit up at night or during candlelight processions.

For the Jubilee of Hope in 2025, the central doors of the lower basilica, which also feature Rupnik’s artwork, were covered, though the largest mosaics, depicting the luminous mysteries of the rosary, remained visible.

“My role is to ensure that the shrine welcomes everyone, especially those who are suffering,” Micas told La Dépêche du Midi. “Among them are victims of sexual abuse and assault, both children and adults. … Those who are suffering and wounded, who need consolation and healing, must remain the top priority in Lourdes.”

The bishop added that the mosaics “will remain covered after the Holy Father’s pilgrimage, following which a new process of reflection will be launched. The current commission will be expanded — notably to include artists and theologians — in order to consider the future of the basilica’s façade.”

Rupnik’s prolific art career has created a problem for many shrines and Catholic churches across Europe and North America. Rupnik’s workshop was involved in projects for over 200 liturgical spaces around the world, including at Fátima, the Vatican, the John Paul II shrine in Washington, D.C., and the tomb of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio).

The Knights of Columbus in 2024 covered mosaics by Rupnik in the two chapels of the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., and in the chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut, a dramatic move that represented at the time the strongest public stand by a major Catholic organization regarding the former Jesuit’s embattled art.

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