Europe26 September, 20263 min read
Pope Leo XIV’s Lourdes Visit Covers Marko Rupnik Mosaics Ahead Of Arrival
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Pope Leo XIV's Lourdes visit includes three-stage France trip: Paris, Lourdes, Metz. Mosaics on Rosary Basilica concealed for the pope's arrival amid Rupnik scandal.
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Lourdes mosaics covered
Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Lourdes in France will feature the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary’s gold-flecked mosaics being “conspicuously covered,” with the mosaics installed in 2008 for the 150th anniversary of the Catholic Church’s recognized miraculous apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes. Monsignor Jean-Marc Micas, bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, said, “My answer is that I will solve a problem here in Lourdes, where people do not come to visit the mosaics of Rupnik, but to look for consolation from the Virgin Mary,” and he is weighing their permanent removal. Monsignor Jean-Marc Micas began covering some of Rupnik’s mosaics in 2025 before opting to cover all of them ahead of Leo’s visit.
The pope directed the Vatican last year to cease using images of Rupnik’s artwork in official communications. The Le Figaro account said Monsignor Jean-Marc Micas made the decision before the summer and that the Vatican approved it, without reportedly pressuring to conceal the mosaics or opposing the covering.
Rupnik abuse allegations
The mosaics’ creator, Slovenian priest-artist Marko Rupnik, has been accused by at least 20 women, including current and former Catholic nuns, of sexual, physical and psychological abuse. The religious mosaics imagined by Marko Rupnik have been obscured after accusations of sexual assaults by the artist, with the man accused by several former collaborators including some nuns. Rupnik is “one of the most prominent living Catholic artists,” and the mosaics in Lourdes are among his many works housed in more than 200 churches across the globe.
A secretive trial of Rupnik is unfolding in Vatican City, and the case is raising difficult questions about whether to condemn the art as well as the artist. Bishop Jean-Marc Micas said, “It’s a very difficult problem because often people say, ‘if we destroy the art of all problematic artists, we will have to destroy many things throughout history,’” as the pope confronts the fallout during the visit.
Victims, meetings, and scrutiny
Pope Leo XIV in Lourdes is set to meet with a group of abuse victims, and the issue threatens to overshadow his visit to the sacred sanctuary.
Lourdes is one of Catholicism’s most revered holy sites, and the pilgrimage site is described as drawing millions of devout elderly Catholics in search of healing, including abuse survivors.
Lourdes will host on September 27 a private meeting between the Pope and abuse victims, and the visit will include a crucial speech before French Catholic bishops.
An AFP-distributed joint statement from seven chosen participants declared, “Engaging in dialogue with the Pope does not mean giving our unconditional support. Being received does not mean at all giving up our demands for justice,” and it said five signatories chose to make their identities public.
LaSexta outlined that on Saturday the Pope will be in Lourdes, and it said the Sunday schedule starts at 9:00 in the morning with a meeting with the bishops of the French Episcopal Conference at the Sanctuary, followed by an 11:00 Mass and a 3:30 PM gathering with workers and citizens of the center.