(OSV News) — Prior to Pope Leo XIV’s arrival to Lourdes Sept. 26, the sanctuary covered the mosaics of Father Marko Rupnik, the spokesman of the sanctuary confirmed to OSV News, sharing pictures of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary with mosaics entirely covered.
They “will remain covered after the event,” David Torchala shared in the message sent to OSV News. “This measure is intended to be a long-term solution and not merely a temporary decoration” for the papal visit, he said, adding that “the search for a permanent solution will continue in consultation with the bishop and the committee that has been in place since 2024.”
Pope Leo will arrive in Lourdes in the evening of Sept. 26 and will concelebrate Sunday Mass Sept. 27 on the meadow facing the grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.
Father Rupnik’s mosaics were — until fully covered Sept. 18 — displayed on the front wall of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, one of three basilicas on the sanctuary’s grounds.
The mosaics were commissioned from Father Rupnik in 2008, 14 years before accusations against the priest-artist were made public. They were installed on the century-old basilica to mark the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady. They portray the luminous mysteries of the rosary that St. John Paul II instituted in 2002.
Amid the ongoing canonical trial of Father Rupnik, the famed priest-mosaicist accused by over 20 women of spiritual and sexual abuse, in March 2025 Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes ordered to cover part of the large-scale mosaic artwork created by the former Jesuit.
The gesture made headlines around the globe. As of Sept. 18, none of the mosaics are visible on the walls of the Lourdes basilica.
On Sept. 17, the sanctuary posted a photo on X of Bishop Micas with Lourdes’ rector, Father Michel Daubanes, confirming the covering.
Bishop Micas: closeness to victims was my guide
Asked in July by OSV News about the symbolism of the pope’s visit to a place that had then partially covered Father Rupnik’s mosaics, Bishop Micas said the pope “didn’t choose Lourdes for that reason” but “to be a pilgrim in Lourdes and to do what all the pastors of the Church do when they are in Lourdes.”
Bishop Micas was clear, however, in the sanctuary’s meaning for victims of clerical sexual abuse.
“Lourdes is considered as a very important place by victims of sexual abuse … because with the Immaculate Conception, they can find consolation and maybe some cure,” he said.
Knowing that victims of clerical sexual abuse come to Lourdes searching for healing and recalling a recent visit to the sanctuary by Sister Samuelle, a French mosaicist and one of Father Rupnik’s alleged victims, Bishop Micas said that “after having received and listened to some people being victims of sexual abuses,” he understood “it’s just horrible” and “it’s a scandal” that victims could feel deterred from visiting the grounds due to the display of an alleged abuser’s mosaics.
In covering part of the mosaics at that point, the bishop sought to alleviate that concern for some pilgrims, he explained.
“This is my mission here,” he said, noting that did not want the mosaics to be a roadblock for people who wanted to visit Lourdes. “What happened (was that) it was just impossible for people (to feel they could) … pass through the mosaics to reach the grotto, to get into the basilica.”
“So this was the point,” he continued, speaking about covering the mosaics. “My mission is to allow anyone to get into the sanctuary and to go to the grotto … to get consolation after what they lived (through). It wasn’t that easy, but it was obvious this is what has to be done.”
‘I cried with relief,’ victim of abuse says of full mosaic covering
Asked about her reaction to fully covering the mosaics, Antonia Sobocki said she “cried with relief.”
Sobocki is a victim of sexual abuse committed outside the Church, but being Catholic, she became a force in advocacy for victims of clerical sexual abuse with her LOUD Fence organization.
In June, Sobocki was accompanying Sister Samuelle in her visit to Lourdes and witnessed a moment of the alleged victim of Father Rupnik facing the then-partially covered mosaics.
“Sometimes you take a spontaneous photo which says so much more than a thousand safeguarding reports,” she said of the photo of Sister Samuelle facing massive mosaics on the wall of the basilica.
“This photo tells the Church what it’s like to be a survivor. Sister Samuelle is so small and fragile compared to the great edifice of the church,” she said, adding that “although the Church has great hierarchical power, it is Sister Samuelle who has the greatest moral authority. It is tragically true that it is possible to have great hierarchical power and yet possess no moral authority.”
Sobocki added that “Sister Samuelle and the other survivors who have so courageously spoken out about Marko Rupnik don’t just speak for themselves now, as important as that is. They have become emblematic of those who have suffered abuse anywhere.”
“They are standard-bearers for those who suffer abuse and then suffer again when enduring the agony of attempting to convince others to listen to them,” Sobocki told OSV News in a written response to questions.
“When I learned about Bishop Micas’ decision (to cover the mosaics in full), I had just finished listening to a victim tell me how as an underage girl she had been repeatedly raped and abused by her parish priest whilst on pilgrimage in Lourdes. The covering of the mosaics is for her too, because the Church is essentially saying, ‘If you tell us, we will believe you.'”
She said “The mosaics being covered up is in response specifically to the Rupnik case, but the impact this action has is for victims everywhere. This is a gift of care and solidarity for millions of people who have been impacted by this grave injury.”
OSV News asked Centro Aletti, an art center connected with Father Rupnik where the Lourdes mosaics were created, for comment on the news of their full covering and is awaiting an answer.
Pattern of the covering
Sobocki was so moved by the initial partial covering of the mosaics in Lourdes that she decided to print special LOUD Fence scarves with the same pattern as the covering sheet, bringing them with her and handing one of the scarves to Bishop Micas on June 30.
“The pattern on the door covering — and scarves — is a continuation of the original pattern which is still visible behind the image of the Virgin Mary and the infant Christ above the doors of the basilica,” she said.
“It is therefore a pattern which comes from the original basilica before Rupnik touched it,” Sobocki told OSV News.
Our Lady of Lourdes, she said, is “our mother and safeguarder and her response is always ‘I believe you.’ This pattern means ‘you are not less because of your wounds. I love you and I believe you.'”
A safe Church, she told OSV News “is not a place where no harm ever occurs.”
“A safe Church is a place where in discovering harm, we prioritize the injured and the vulnerable. We will only arrive at this safe church if we journey there together as one Church,” she said, praising Bishop Micas’ openness to dialogue with victims of abuse.
Sobocki is going to be in Lourdes for the visit of Pope Leo.
“I hope he prays for all victims of abuse and for their healing, whilst he is in Lourdes. I hope he talks about the importance of pastoral care for the wounded Church, and the common vocation of care which falls on everyone,” she told OSV News. She said she’s also hoping the pope “blesses the panels which cover the doors. It will be a strong message of affirmation for the merits of care and compassion.”
But the moment she awaits most is Sunday Mass with Pope Leo during his visit to Lourdes.
“This will be the first time I will attend Mass with the mosaics fully covered. It will be the first time I’ll attend Mass in Lourdes without having to look away from the abuse which is ingrained in the mosaics. I will be celebrating Mass in Lourdes the way Our Lady intended, as a sanctuary for the wounded,” she said.
– – –
Paulina Guzik is international editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @Guzik_Paulina. Caroline de Sury contributed to this report from Paris.
