Vatican News still showcasing Rupnik despite Pope Leo inaugurating a new era of justice in the Church: zero tolerance for abuse
Fr Rupnik: 'Padre Pio's spiritual struggle represented in mosaic'
Less than a month into his Pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has already left a clear and unequivocal sign: the Church must be a safe, transparent home, faithful to the Gospel and to the little ones. No ambiguity, no compromise with evil. The new Pontiff has begun the first steps of his ministry with gestures of great symbolic and concrete strength, demonstrating that the protection of victims of abuse and the purification of the Church are not only priorities, but the foundation of his pastoral vision.
The Vatican's recent decision to remove from its official platforms the works of art of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, accused by dozens of women - including many nuns - of serious spiritual, psychological and sexual abuse, represents a moral and cultural turning point. This is not a mere editorial choice: it is an act that recognizes the pain of the victims, affirms the seriousness of the accusations and restores dignity to the face of the Church, often disfigured by silence and cover-ups.
In the past, the unacceptable has been tolerated too often. Too many times, talent, prestige or power have prevailed over justice and truth. Today, with Leo XIV, the Church has decided to turn the page with courage. It is not only separating itself from a compromised artist, but from a mentality that has wounded the very Body of Christ, its most fragile people.
In the space of a few days, Pope Leo XIV met with the members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, reaffirming the mandate entrusted to his predecessors but with a renewed will to act with determination. He listened to the voices of the survivors, welcomed the requests for transparency, gave clear signals to the entire ecclesiastical hierarchy: zero tolerance is not a slogan, it is a government line.
It is no coincidence that these decisions come in close temporal proximity to these meetings. The symbolic gesture of removing Rupnik's images is part of a broader policy of reform and vigilance, long requested by many faithful, religious, and bishops sensitive to the cry of the victims.
The Church can no longer afford to speak of mercy without justice, of forgiveness without truth, of beauty without integrity. Pope Leo XIV seems to have understood this deeply: evangelical credibility passes through moral clarity. It is not a question of denying the possibility of redemption - always offered to those who repent with a sincere heart - but of giving absolute priority to the protection of victims, to the reparation of the evil done, to the prevention of future abuses.
The decision of the Sanctuary of Lourdes to cover Rupnik's mosaics, that of several dioceses to suspend the dissemination of his art, and now the Vatican's move, are pieces of an epochal change. A change that also requires a broader reflection on the relationship between sacred art, author, and message: beauty cannot serve to hide sin, nor can faith coexist with the abuse of power.
The work of reform will be neither easy nor painless. But the courage to face the shadows of its recent history is already a sign of a more humble, freer Church, closer to the Gospel. Pope Leo XIV began his pontificate with the sign of justice and compassion for the wounded, tracing a path in which spirituality and responsibility walk together.
If this is only the beginning, we can hope for a purer, more credible, more motherly Church. A Church that does not cover, but heals. That does not fear the truth, but seeks it with courage. That knows how to say “enough” to evil, to announce with more force the good that saves.
NB This is some years before Rupnik's activities became public knowledge and the Jesuits expelled him.
Happy Feast of St. Francis Xavier, one of world's greatest missionaries. Mosaic by Marko Rupnik, SJ, in Jesuit Curia pic.twitter.com/CUiGaxmtIq
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) December 3, 2015
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