The Knights of Columbus used a paper cover to temporarily cloak artwork created by Father Marko Rupnik at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., pending the outcome of a Vatican investigation into sexual abuse allegations against the Slovenian artist and priest.
Rupnik’s mosaics line the walls of the Luminous Mysteries Chapel, which contains a first-class relic of St. John Paul II’s blood at the front of the altar, and the larger Redemptor Hominis Chapel, both of which sit inside the shrine near the entrance. The shrine is sponsored and managed by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.
The paper cover will eventually be replaced with a fabric canvas while the Vatican continues to investigate allegations that Rupnik spiritually, psychologically, and sexually abused between 20 and 40 adult women, including religious sisters.
Rupnik’s artwork was fully covered on Tuesday, July 23, less than two weeks after Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly announced that the Catholic fraternal organization would cover its displays of his artwork at the shrine and at its headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut.
Rupnik first faced allegations of sexual misconduct in 2018 and subsequently faced numerous allegations of past sexual abuse in 2021 and again in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Kelly said in a statement on July 11 that the Knights of Columbus would cover up the artwork “because our first concern must be for victims of sexual abuse, who have already suffered immensely in the Church, and who may be further injured by the ongoing display of the mosaics at the shrine.”
The Knights of Columbus consulted with sexual abuse victims and those who minister to them, art historians, pilgrims to the shrine, bishops, and moral theologians before making the decision.
“While opinions varied among those consulted, there was a strong consensus to prioritize the needs of victims, especially because the allegations are current, unresolved, and horrific,” the statement read.
The Vatican investigated Rupnik in May 2019 for violating canon law by providing absolution during confession to an accomplice in sin — a woman with whom he had sexual relations. After the investigation, the Vatican confirmed in May 2020 that Rupnik had incurred an automatic excommunication, which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) lifted two weeks later.
New sexual abuse allegations against Rupnik came to light in June 2021 from the Loyola Community in Slovenia, where he is accused of abusing nuns. The CDF stated in October 2022 that the statute of limitations had expired and Rupnik could not be investigated. However, in December 2022, he faced new allegations of abuse from his time at the Aletti Center in Rome.
In October 2023, Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations and ordered the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to begin a judicial process to investigate the claim. More allegations have come to light following that announcement.
Rupnik was expelled from the Jesuits in June 2023 but is still a priest and a consultant to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Rupnik’s artwork is still displayed around the world, including in the Vatican’s Redemptoris Mater Chapel.