It was Pope Leo who personally ordered the Vatican to finally stop using Rupnik images less than a month after he was elected, according to the bishop of Lourdes.
In an interview given by Bishop Jean-Marc Micas, the ordinary of the Diocese of Lourdes-Tarbes, the background of how the Vatican stopped using Father Marko Rupnik images was revealed.
Pope Leo received Micas in audience on June 26 last year, and during the meeting informed the French bishop about his opposition to the omnipresent Rupnik mosaics.
Speaking to the Vaticanist of Paris Match magazine this week, Micas stated that “the Pope confided to him on that occasion that he himself had ordered the removal of the reproductions of Rupnik’s mosaics, which were still illustrating articles on the Holy See’s official website, Vatican News.”
Leo is “very determined,” Micas told the magazine.
For many years, Rupnik’s images had been used regularly by the Vatican’s online news portals, providing the artwork for feasts throughout the liturgical year on a recurring basis. The Vatican continued to promote Rupnik despite the growing scandal around him, and even after Pope Francis eventually opened a Vatican investigation into the allegations of serial abuse he is said to have committed.
Alleged victims have stated that Rupnik’s art is intimately linked to the alleged abuse, attesting also that some of the incidents of abuse happened in conjunction with him working on the various images. One alleged victim said that the priest’s abuse is “deeply connected to his conception of art and his theological thinking”.
The use of Rupnik art by the Vatican was thanks to the Dicastery of Communication, whose – now outgoing – prefect Paolo Ruffini strongly defended the images, despite widespread external criticism. Ruffini was not alone in this.
A certain Natasa Govekar is understood to have been highly influential in using Rupnik’s work. Govekar is the director of the Dicastery for Communications’ Theological-Pastoral Department and is also a member of Rupnik’s mosaic production facility known as the Aletti Center, where she works on the “theology of images.” She has been at the Dicastery since its inception and was responsible for monitoring and operating Pope Francis’ Instagram and X accounts.
It was only around four weeks into Leo XIV’s nascent pontificate last year that Vaticanists observed a conspicuous absence of the Rupnik images. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that all the Rupnik images had been removed from the various sites.
The Dicastery for Communication has a large purview. It oversees not just the press office, but also the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Vatican Internet Service, Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Centre, L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican Printing Press, the Photo Service, and the Vatican Publishing House
For Leo to order the entire Dicastery to desist in using Rupnik’s work so early on in his pontificate points to the concern he felt about the issue.
The Pope also appears to have had a direct hand in ensuring the covering of Rupnik’s large images in Lourdes. As the Catholic Herald reported this week, Micas announced all the remaining Rupnik mosaics would be permanently covered in time for Leo XIV’s visit at the end of September.
“The Holy Father’s visit to Lourdes is an opportunity to take another step forward on this issue,” he said. “All the works on the façade will be covered and then redecorated in connection with Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic journey.” A gradual process of covering the works had begun last year.
According to Micas’ conversation with Paris Match, officials from the Holy See contacted the bishop in early August to ensure that Leo would not see the mosaics during his visit.
Leo’s pontificate has not been one of speedy action on many fronts, excepting perhaps in issuing the Decree of automatic excommunication regarding the Society of Saint Pius X’s six bishops.
But on the issue of Rupnik, it seems that Leo is keen to act.
As for the Vatican’s trial into the priest, that remains ongoing with judges only appointed in October. In recent weeks the Vatican rejected rumours that Rupnik was set to be acquitted.
In the meantime, Leo has replaced Ruffini as prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, naming former EWTN president Montse Alvarado to the post. Govekar still remains in her post, but time will tell if Alvarado cleans house of the Rupnik allies.
Michael Haynes is an English journalist in the Holy See Press Corps. He serves as Vatican Correspondent for the Catholic Herald, while readers can follow him at Per Mariam and on X @MLJHaynes.
