(OSV News) – The Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida has held celebrations to commemorate the inauguration of mosaics designed by Slovenian Fr. Marko Rupnik, who is accused of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse over three decades.
The installation is the disgraced priest's largest mosaic to date, measuring 43,000 square feet, covering the shrine's north, south and east facade.
The mosaics on the south facade were inaugurated May 11, 2024, while those displayed on the shrine's east façade were unveiled during an elaborate ceremony May 17, highlighting the biblical scenes depicted in the mosaics and included musical sets and fireworks display.
At the start of the ceremony, Redemptorist Fr. Marlos Aurelio, superior provincial, noted that "we don't recognize the name of any artist, any of the facades, or any of the scenes, because this work was created communally" and preferred to classify the artwork as "a metaphor, a symbol, an expression of what the evangelizing work from the sanctuary of the House of Mary should be."
Brazilian Archbishop Orlando Brandes of Aparecida delivered an address and a blessing for the east facade mosaics depicting the story of Creation, which he said were "intended for contemplation and meditation on the word of God made of art."
"The artists, who from the foundation of the scaffolding until this day of completing this art that they have worked on with much effort, with much heart, and with much skill, to them we give a special blessing," Archbishop Brandes said.
The Centro Aletti, the art studio founded by Fr. Rupnik, did not publicly disclose the cost of the extensive mosaic pieces covering the shrine.
However, at a May 20 press conference in Rome, Italian journalist Federica Tourn, who, along with fellow journalists Stefano Feltri and Giorgio Meletti launched "La Scomunica" ("The Excommunication"), a new podcast on the case against Father Rupnik, told journalists that the priest and the art center he founded stand to make a significant profit off the mosaics in Aparecida.
According to Tourn, the first two completed facades cost "an estimated 6 million euros ($6.7 million)."
The cost can also be calculated based on the size of the mosaics in Aparecida and on the square-meter price of the mosaics designed by Fr. Rupnik, provided by Father Pietro Bortolini of Santa Maria delle Grazie Parish in the northern Italian town in Conegliano Veneto. Fr. Bortolini told OSV News that the mosaics installed by Centro Aletti cost in his parish church cost 160,000 euros, or 1,000 euros per square meter ($172,000 for 1,722 square feet).
Fr. Rupnik, a former Jesuit, was briefly excommunicated by the church in 2020 for absolving an Italian novice with whom he had sex. The excommunication was lifted after he repented.
The Jesuits disclosed in December 2022 that it had suspended the Slovenian artist after allegations of abuse had surfaced. In June 2023, Fr. Rupnik was expelled from the Jesuits for refusing to obey restrictions imposed upon him related to the sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse of some two dozen women and at least one man over the course of 30 years.
Despite the credibility of the accusations and his dismissal from the Jesuits, the Diocese of Koper in the priest's native Slovenia announced it had incardinated Fr. Rupnik in its diocese.
After the diocese confirmed in October 2023 that the priest had been there since August, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had lifted the statute of limitations, allowing the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to proceed in its investigation and eventual case.
In a statement published in October 2023, the Vatican said the decision was made after "the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors brought to the pope's attention that there were serious problems in the handling of the Father Marko Rupnik case and lack of outreach to victims."
Since the allegations were revealed, calls to remove the priest's artwork have grown, including from victims who said the mosaics were a painful reminder of the abuse they suffered. One victim, identified as Sister Samuelle, recounted that she was abused by Fr. Rupnik while installing one of his mosaics.
A number of shrines that featured his work have taken steps to either cover or limit the public display and use of Fr. Rupnik's mosaics since the abuse revelations were made public. The St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington as well as the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France, opted to cover or partially cover the mosaics out of respect for his victims.
In the broadcast of the east facade unveiling, the Brazilian Aparecida shrine announced that the ongoing work on the west facade was "the last chapter of our journey" and thanked devotees of the shrine for their support.
"The challenges continue," the shrine said in a video that was part of the broadcasted east-facade unveiling ceremony, reaffirming that with the last facade currently being decorated with Centro Aletti mosaics, "Our dream continues."
