Aparecida shrine celebrates completion of Rupnik-designed western facade

(OSV News) — While France’s Lourdes shrine moves to cover mosaics by Father Marko Rupnik, Brazil’s National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in São Paulo celebrated new installations by the artist, who faces decades of allegations of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse.

Much like its elaborate inauguration ceremony in May 2025 for the shrine’s eastern facade, the celebration which included music, prayers, biblical dramatizations and fireworks was held Sept. 12 for the western facade.

The installation, which surrounds the entire basilica, is credited to the Centro Aletti, the art studio founded by Father Rupnik, whose canonical trial is still under review by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

However, a recent video posted online raised questions regarding the controversial priest’s participation in installing the mosaics despite the accusations of abusing women while working on similar projects in the past.

In an interview with TV Aparecida, the diocese’s media channel, Father Fabio Evaristo, the shrine’s administrator, praised the latest installations, saying that those who visit “will remember the people who took part, who helped build them.”

“They will remember that one day, a wonderful family came together to accomplish this very special work,” he said.

After the allegations were found credible, the Jesuits imposed restrictive measures on Father Rupnik. The priest’s refusal to obey prompted his dismissal from the Jesuits. However, less than two months after his dismissal, Father Rupnik was received into the Diocese of Koper in his native Slovenia.

Since the allegations were revealed, calls to remove the priest’s artwork have grown, including from alleged victims who said the mosaics were a painful reminder of the abuse they suffered.

While some shrines, like the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes and the St. John Paul II Shrine in Washington, chose to fully or partially cover the artwork out of respect for alleged victims, the Shrine of Aparecida continued on with the massive installation of his mosaics.

At the celebration, retired Archbishop Orlando Brandes of Aparecida blessed the west facade, saying the images depicting the history of salvation would be an “unwavering sign of hope and consolation for the pilgrim people.”

Addressing the crowds at the celebration, Father Evaristo thanked those who worked on and “all who made this dream a reality.”

“Thank you very much to all the people whose names will, from today onwards, be forever preserved behind these mosaics,” he said.

It is unclear to what extent Father Rupnik participated in the project’s design and installation, or if there are any current restrictions in place while his case is decided by the DDF.

In the video, which was published on TV Aparecida’s YouTube page Sept. 1, several people, including Archbishop Brandes, are shown placing the final stones in the mosaic.

As one prelate placed a stone, a person standing next to him and giving instructions can be seen wearing a construction hat with the initials “MIR,” and bearing a strong physical resemblance to Father (Marko) Rupnik, whose middle name is Ivan.

OSV News reached out to the shrine’s communications office Sept. 17 to confirm whether the person was Father Rupnik, since the initials matched his full name. The office was also asked what guided its decision to allow the priest to continue despite pleas from victims and his ongoing canonical trial.

OSV News is awaiting a response from the shrine.

The Centro Aletti, the art studio founded by Father Rupnik, did not publicly disclose the cost of the extensive mosaic pieces covering the shrine.

However, at a May 20, 2025, press conference in Rome, Italian journalist Federica Tourn, who, along with fellow journalists Stefano Feltri and Giorgio Meletti launched the podcast “La Scomunica” (“The Excommunication”), told journalists that the priest and the art center he founded stand to make a significant profit off the mosaics in Aparecida.

According to Tourn, the first two completed facades cost “an estimated 6 million euros ($6.7 million).”

The cost can also be calculated based on the size of the mosaics in Aparecida and on the square-meter price of the mosaics designed by Father Rupnik, provided by Father Pietro Bortolini of Santa Maria delle Grazie Parish in the northern Italian town in Conegliano Veneto.

Father Bortolini told OSV News that the mosaics installed by Centro Aletti in his parish church cost 160,000 euros, or 1,000 euros per square meter ($172,000 for 1,722 square feet).

The shrine in Aparecida said on its website that work on the west facade began in 2025 and was completed in 2026.

“The nearly 4,000 square meters (43,000 square feet) of mosaics were conceived and executed by 39 mosaic artists from various religious denominations (Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Latin Catholic) and diverse nationalities, ages, and states of life (priests, consecrated religious, laypeople, and married individuals), all associated with the Aletti Center in Rome, Italy,” the shrine said.

“The work was funded by donations from the ‘Family of Devotees,’ an initiative that brings together the faithful to support the social, construction, and evangelization projects of the National Shrine of Aparecida,” the website said.

The estimated cost of the western facade calculated by OSV News according to information available, is $4.5 million.

The Family of Devotees, which posted pictures from the opening of the western facade on their Instagram, said that the images “will forever be part of the history of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida” and that a project, through art, “draws us closer to the Word of God and invites us to live out the Gospel, mercy, and hope.”

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