Nunciature: No papal event for Paris Rupnik chapel; bishop confirms pope ordered Vatican News Rupnik ban

(OSV News) — The apostolic nunciature in Paris confirmed to OSV News Aug. 31 that no papal celebration is scheduled in the Father Marko Rupnik mosaic-decorated chapel inside its Paris building during the apostolic trip to France Sept. 25-28.

The confirmation came as French media confirmed with the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes that Pope Leo XIV ordered the removal of artwork created by Father Marko Rupnik that was used on the Vatican News website.

In the interview with Paris Match, which was published in full Aug. 31, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas said that during a private audience in June 2025, the pope made his willingness to resolve the matter regarding the controversial priest’s artwork “very clearly.”

Pope Leo, he said, “immediately asked me how Lourdes was handling this issue” and expressed his support for “the way we have approached things,” following Lourdes’ covering of the priest’s mosaics at the entrance of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The pope “pointed out to me that, for his part, he had instructed the Holy See’s communications office to no longer use Rupnik’s mosaics to illustrate publications. He is truly very determined on this issue,” Bishop Micas told Paris Match.

Before publishing the full text of the interview, Paris Match published an article in its weekly magazine, which was subsequently reported on by the Catholic Herald Aug. 27.

In the interview, Bishop Micas also said the Vatican agreed with his decision to cover all mosaics at the basilica ahead of the pope’s Sept. 25-28 visit to France.

“Already among ourselves here, it seemed absolutely obvious to us that we had to, in one way or another, conceal the mosaics for the duration of the visit, and they will remain covered after his visit,” he said. “And this view was shared by the Holy See’s representatives when they came to inspect the site. We are working on it.”

Bishop Micas had previously confirmed in an interview with the French daily La Dépêche that the controversial artwork would be covered indefinitely. However, in that interview, he had not mentioned his discussion with the Vatican.

Father Rupnik is accused of committing spiritual and sexual abuse against some 20 to 40 women. The accusations were made public in 2022, and the canonical process is ongoing at the Vatican.

According to the Aug. 27 report by Paris Match, the chapel of the apostolic nunciature in Paris, where Pope Leo will be staying during his visit, has been closed since the start of the Slovenian priest’s canonical trial.

The chapel, which features Father Rupnik’s artwork, including a depiction of St. Irenaeus of Lyon, will remain closed until a verdict is announced, after which a decision will be made on whether the artwork will be covered or removed.

Responding to a request for comment by OSV News, the apostolic nunciature in Paris said that “no celebration by the Holy Father is scheduled during the Apostolic Visit to France.” However, the nunciature did not confirm the report about its closure.

The quiet removal of the artwork from Vatican News, which was used to mark major feast days online, was noted in June 2025, nearly a month after Pope Leo’s election. The Vatican press office did not make any formal statement on the change and did not respond to a request for comment from OSV News.

A year before, when asked by OSV News and America magazine regarding the continued use of Father Rupnik’s artwork, Paolo Ruffini, the former prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, told communications professionals on the final day of the Catholic Media Conference in Atlanta in June 2024 that “as Christian(s), we are asked not to judge.”

He also dismissed calls for their removal, arguing that it was “not a Christian response” and would do little to help victims heal from their abuse.

However, following the backlash, the then-head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, urged dicasteries to exert “pastoral prudence” in using the artwork, which could “indicate indifference to the pain and suffering of so many victims of abuse.”

After dozens of allegations of abuse surfaced against the Slovenian priest, survivors said the mosaics were a painful reminder of the abuse they suffered. One victim, identified as Sister Samuelle, recounted that she was abused by Father Rupnik while installing one of his mosaics.

Speaking with OSV News July 24, Bishop Micas said he was motivated to cover the mosaics after several meetings with victims of sexual abuse, including victims allegedly abused by the Slovenian priest.

The victims “told me their story with Marko Rupnik … how he abused them,” he said, noting that they described the abuse taking place in “the process of the making of the mosaics, on the places where they were creating the mosaics.”

“This gave me a new look on our mosaics in Lourdes,” Bishop Micas told OSV News.

The two meetings were “the foundation for my conscience about my responsibility in Lourdes considering these mosaics,” and the positive reaction the decision received “showed me we were right to do what we did at that time. And we have to continue.”

Asked the symbolism of the pope’s visit to a place that has covered Father Rupnik’s mosaics, Bishop Micas told OSV News in July 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.

“I realized when I arrived as bishop of the place, that Lourdes is Lourdes because of the Immaculate Conception,” said Bishop Micas, who was installed as the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes in 2022.

“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.”

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