The Shrine of Fátima is not considering removing the large mosaic panel located on the back wall of the Basilica of the Holy Trinity created by Father Marko Ivan Rupnik’s workshop. However, it has decided to suspend all use of images of the artwork. This was revealed in response to a request for clarification from 7MARGENS, a religious media outlet in Portugal.
In the response from its communications office, the shrine emphasizes that it “unequivocally condemns the actions committed by Father M.I. Rupnik” and states that it “has already expressed its solidarity with the victims.”
Father Marko Rupnik, a well-known priest and artist, has been accused of sexually, spiritually and psychologically abusing more than 20 women—many of them members of a religious community he co-founded—over a span of four decades. In June 2023, Father Rupnik was expelled from the Jesuits for refusing to obey restrictions imposed upon him. He was incardinated into the Diocese of Koper in his native Slovenia in August 2023.
Regarding the panel at Fátima, designed and created by the Aletti Center in Rome, where Father Rupnik was a key figure as founder and director until 2020—when the first abuse complaints from religious women associated with the Loyola Community came to light—the shrine explains: “We are not considering its removal. However, since becoming aware of the allegations against Father Rupnik, we have suspended the use of the image—the entire artwork, and its details—in our promotional materials.”
7MARGENS also asked the leadership of the Shrine of Fátima to clarify its stance, following the actions taken by the Shrine of Lourdes in France with respect to panels by the same artist: first, the decision to stop illuminating the panels during the Marian night processions in July 2024, and, starting this week, the decision to conceal the side panels of the two main doors of the basilica. The outlet also inquired whether the Shrine of Fátima was considering placing any note next to Father Rupnik’s works to express its care for the suffering of any potential victims, whether of Father Rupnik or other members of the Catholic Church. This question, however, went unanswered.
In addition to the large 500-square-meter panel installed in the Basilica in 2007, Father Rupnik also created, by commission from the shrine, two icons of the shepherd children Francisco and Jacinta. These were presented in February 2014 and were intended to be placed next to their tombs in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima for the devotion of the faithful. According to the information shared at the time by the Diocese of Leiria-Fátima, these are two paintings on wood, each measuring 90 by 80 centimeters, “inspired by the Eastern tradition of icons, but with a modern twist.”
Translated with permission of the editors of 7MARGENS. Material from OSV News was used in this report.
