Sacred art under construction at Centro Aletti. (Credit: Vaticano/EWTN News)
Rome Newsroom, Aug 1, 2024 / 16:16 pm (CNA).
As Church leaders and Catholic groups around the world increasingly call for the removal of sacred art created by Father Marko Rupnik, the art institute founded by the disgraced former Jesuit is punching back, saying Rupnik’s art is being subjected to “cancel culture.”
“In the face of growing pressure for the removal of the works of art created by Centro Aletti, we feel obliged to express our great concern regarding the widespread diffusion of the so-called ‘cancel culture’ and of a way of thinking that legitimizes the ‘criminalization’ of art,” Centro Aletti Director Maria Campatelli contends in a letter addressed to friends of the institution.
In the letter, Campatelli says the center continues to face a “time of trial” while the allegations of sexual abuse by more than two dozen women, mostly former nuns, against Rupnik continues to be investigated by the Vatican.
“The removal of a work of art ought never to be thought of as a punishment or a cure,” Campatelli continues. “While pastoral care for suffering persons if of course necessary, this cannot become justification for the removal or covering of works of art.”
In the letter, Campatelli also reiterates that Rupnik “has always firmly denied, in the appropriate forums, having ever committed the abuses described by those accusing him.”
Rupnik has faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct since 2018 and in recent years has faced repeated allegations of past sexual abuse.
During a June visit to Atlanta, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication Paolo Ruffini also expressed reservations about removing Rupnik’s art in places of worship.
That same month, Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston and outgoing head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, sent a letter to heads of the Holy See expressing hope that “pastoral prudence would prevent displaying artwork in a way that could imply either exoneration or a subtle defense” of those of accused of abuse.
Last month, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes issued a statement and expressed his personal opinion to remove Rupnik’s mosaics affixed to the entrance of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.
“Many people who were victims of sexual violence and abuse at the hands of clergy have in fact expressed their suffering and the violence that this exposure now constituted for them,” he wrote in the statement.
The Knights of Columbus last month temporarily covered Rupnik art at the St. John Paul II Shrine in Washington, D.C., as well as at the fraternal organization’s headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut.
Pope Francis ordered the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to begin a judicial process to investigate the sexual abuse allegations against Rupnik after lifting the statute of limitations of his case in October 2023.
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The President of the Communications Commission of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress, Father Livingston Olivares (left), accompanies EWTN Vice President for Programming and Production Peter Gagnon (center-right), EWTN Vice President for Spanish-language Production, Marketing, and Radio Enrique Duprat (center-left), EWTN Production Director Michael Holmes (far right), and IEC Quito 2024 Communications Coordinator Marcelo Mejía (front, kneeling) at the Monument to the Equator, the exact location of the Equator (from which the country of Ecuador takes its name) on the outskirts of the country’s capital city of Quito, site of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress. / Credit: Communications Commission of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress
ACI Prensa Staff, May 21, 2024 / 06:40 am (CNA).
The 53rd International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) has chosen EWTN as the official channel for providing live coverage of the event, which will take place from Sept. 8–15 in Quito, Ecuador.
“The 53rd International Eucharistic Congress, which will be held in Quito Sept. 8–15, has chosen EWTN as its official channel, which will broadcast everything related” to this great event, said Father Juan Carlos Garzón, secretary-general of the IEC Quito 2024, in a statement sent from Rome to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.
The theme for this year’s International Eucharistic Congress is “Fraternity to Heal the World.” On Monday, the Vatican also announced that Pope Francis designated Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect for the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, as pontifical legate to the congress.
Garzón was in Rome last week as part of a delegation, chaired by Alfredo Espinoza Mateus, archbishop of Quito and primate of Ecuador, “to hold a series of meetings with the main papal authorities.”
Since the beginning of the preparations for IEC 2024, Garzón added: “EWTN has been present at the orientation and training for IEC 2024 communications personnel.”
Logo for the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress that will take place in Quito, Ecuador, from Sept. 8-15, 2024. Credit: Communications Commission of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress
EWTN preparations for IEC Quito 2024
In tandem, to coordinate EWTN’s transmissions of IEC Quito 2024, a team from the network visited the Ecuadorian capital, including the Quito Metropolitan Convention Center, where the congress will be held.
The team was comprised of EWTN Vice President for Programming and Production Peter Gagnon, EWTN Director of Production Michael Holmes, and EWTN Vice President for Spanish-language Production, Marketing, and Radio Enrique Duprat.
Gagnon said EWTN transmissions of the event will be offered in Spanish, English, and German. “This will be a wonderful event for those attending and for those watching,” Gagnon said.
“For EWTN, it is an immense joy to be the channel for the Quito 2024 International Eucharistic Congress,” Duprat said. “It is essential for us to be the platform on which, no matter where our audience is, everyone can enjoy the most important Catholic events in the Church.”
As for coverage details, Duprat said: “The plan is to be able to offer this International Eucharistic Congress live and direct from Quito and in multiple languages [Spanish, English, and German] both through our television and radio signals, the internet, and through our digital app.”
The event coincides with the 150th anniversary of the 1874 consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1886, Quito was also the site of the first National Eucharistic Congress.
During their preparatory visit, the EWTN team traveled the route of a procession that will take place on Sept. 14 in the historic center of Quito, which will begin with a Mass in San Francisco Plaza and then head to the Basilica of the National Vow, where benediction will be given.
They also visited the IEC offices, where they were received by Garzón, who explained how the organization of the event is progressing, including the schedule of a theological symposium to be held Sept. 4–7, just prior to the Sept. 8–15 congress.
The EWTN delegation also visited the Middle of the World Park and Monument to the Equator, marking the equator dividing the northern and southern hemispheres and where a Liturgy of the Word is planned with emphasis on care for creation.
Registration underway
Registration for the International Eucharistic Congress, both for the theological symposium and for the congress itself, is underway and available through the event website.
The largest Catholic media organization in the world, EWTN’s 11 global TV channels and numerous regional channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 425 million television households in more than 160 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and more than 600 domestic and international AM and FM radio affiliates and a worldwide shortwave radio service.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., EWTN News operates multiple global news services, including Catholic News Agency; The National Catholic Register newspaper and digital platform; ACI Prensa in Spanish; ACI Digital in Portuguese; ACI Stampa in Italian; ACI Africa in English, French, and Portuguese; ACI Mena in Arabic; CNA Deutsch in German; and ChurchPop, a digital platform that creates content in several languages. It also produces numerous television news programs including “EWTN News Nightly,” “EWTN News In Depth,” “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly,” and “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Father J.J. Mech, rector of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, stands next to the life-sized statues of the apostles that have now been installed in the cathedral’s worship space, along with first-class relics of each apostle. The “Journey with the Saints” pilgrimage, which will be dedicated Feb. 8, 2024, in a special ceremony with Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, is part of the cathedral’s ongoing transformation into an “apostolic center for the arts and culture.” / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Detroit Catholic
Detroit, Mich., Jan 29, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
At the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, the band is getting back together. The band of Christ’s 12 apostles, that is.
On Feb. 8, Detroit’s mother church will publicly unveil its long-awaited “Journey with the Saints” project, a permanent installation of 14 “larger than life” statues accompanied by first-class relics of each apostle, the latest accomplishment in the cathedral’s ongoing mission to turn itself into an apostolic center in the city of Detroit.
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron will join Father J.J. Mech, rector of the cathedral, to dedicate the new installation during a special event at 7 p.m.
From its central perch on Woodward Avenue, the looming gothic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Detroit stands out in its neighborhood. Following Vigneron’s instruction to turn the church into a “cathedral of the arts,” Mech has spent the last several years converting the cathedral into a hub of missionary activity and beauty, drawing people to the faith via “shallow entry points.”
“Our goal is that we are going to be more accessible to people off of Woodward,” Mech told Detroit Catholic. “We want this to be a flexible public space, maybe even a community hub for not only spiritual enrichment but cultural enrichment, and it will be a safe place, and we will have security and all of that.”
St. Simon, St. Thomas, and St. Matthias are pictured in their permanent fixtures atop the pillars inside the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The statues and relics of the apostles will be officially unveiled Feb. 8, 2024, as part of a permanent pilgrimage experience at the cathedral, “Journey with the Saints.” Credit: Photo courtesy of Detroit Catholic
The name “Cathedral of the Arts,” Mech explained, is a reminder that the proof of God is beauty — a principle that guides each of the new initiatives he and his team have undertaken on the cathedral’s campus.
The latest project, the installation of the seven-and-a-half-foot-tall statues and relics encircling the cathedral’s interior worship space, is the crowning jewel of those efforts, transforming the cathedral into a permanent pilgrimage site, guided by the men who knew Christ most intimately during his time on earth.
Complete with first-class relics, the new installation is among the first of its kind in North America bringing together all 12 of Christ’s apostles for veneration, and the only exhibit in the world with the relics accessible in this way.
The 14 statues — including two eight-foot angels — each were carved from a single tree trunk in St. Ulrich Groeden, in modern-day Italy, in 1927. The statues were rescued from St. Benedict Church in Highland Park, which closed in 2014. After undergoing extensive restoration, the statues were installed in the cathedral’s nave in December.
The statue of St. Andrew. Each of the statues were carved from a single tree trunk and rescued from St. Benedict Church in Highland Park, which closed in 2014. After undergoing extensive restoration, the statues were installed in the cathedral’s nave in December 2023. Credit: Photo courtesy of Detroit Catholic
The statues include two angels, 10 of the original 12 apostles, St. Paul, and St. Matthias, the apostle who replaced Judas. Mech discovered that he had relics corresponding to the 12 saints, part of a collection of nearly 200 relics owned by the cathedral, all of which he hopes to be able to one day put on display.
The relics and the signage were installed beneath each statue beginning on Jan. 8, in time for the dedication and blessing of the new reliquary pilgrimage on Feb. 8.
“I am so excited about the transformation that is happening,” Mech said. “When you come in, there will be three main signs that tell you how to go on a pilgrimage, what the goal of a pilgrimage is, and how to interact with these relics. [Pilgrims] are going to walk away transformed, different, and they are going to enter through prayer.”
“Journey with the Saints” is much more than a museum of Church history, Mech said, but a rare opportunity to invoke the help of Catholicism’s greatest saints.
“It’s not just about looking at a pretty statue and touching some bones. [Pilgrims] are going to have a purpose when they walk away,” Mech said. “People can decide what they want intercession for, what they are hoping for when they pray to a particular saint, and when they walk away, they’ll keep praying for that.”
Keith Calleja began installation of relics on Jan. 8, 2024, starting with the relic of St. Philip. Credit: Photo courtesy of Detroit Catholic
Mech said those whose prayers have been answered through the intercession of the saints will be invited to return to the cathedral and contribute a tile to a mosaic art piece that will be installed to show how God is answering prayers through the project.
While the saints and relics are the culmination of a long-sought project, it’s all part of a greater vision for Detroit’s cathedral, Mech said.
Another piece of the puzzle will be dedicated on May 12, when Archbishop Vigneron will unveil a new outdoor grotto at the cathedral in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, as the archbishop emotionally addressed the faithful during a livestreamed Mass from the cathedral, he entrusted the archdiocese to the protection of Our Lady of Lourdes and pledged to build the grotto “as a perpetual reminder” of her care and in memory of the lives lost to COVID-19.
Under the guidance of the archbishop, the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament finished a majority of the work on the grotto this fall, including statues of St. Bernadette Soubirous and Our Lady, whose face will reflect the one St. Bernadette saw in Lourdes, France, in 1858.
The first-class relics are among nearly 200 relics currently housed in the cathedral, which Father Mech hopes to find a way to display. The gold reliquaries are installed beneath each of the apostles’ statues. January 2024. Courtesy of Detroit Catholic
“People are already presently coming to pray [at] the grotto with the Blessed Mother,” Mech said. “We put some beautiful landscaping in this fall so people would feel welcomed, and in fact, we have used the site in a couple of ways for prayer services already.”
The grotto will also connect seamlessly with a garden walk that is being created around the cathedral’s plaza lawn, which will include art, benches, solar charging stations, a dog park, a bird sanctuary and pollination habitat.
Working alongside the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the cathedral’s co-director of family ministries, Christine Broses, is spearheading the transformation of two previously empty lots on the corner of Trowbridge and John R Streets into green space for wildlife to thrive.
“We learned that the city of Detroit is a north, south, east, and west crossing for bird migration,” Broses said. “So a lot of birds fly over the city of Detroit, but they don’t have anywhere to stop and rest because there isn’t a lot of green space. Creating green space is really important for the city and for wildlife in general, and research shows hearing birds and having green space in neighborhoods helps improve people’s mental health.”
Last spring, Broses oversaw the planting of native flowers in the area, and the next step is to let the space grow wild, which will inevitably attract birds and bees over the coming years. Broses said the final step will be to add educational plaques and pathways to make the spot accessible to schools and families.
Mech wants the garden spaces and pathways to be welcoming and intends to build benches — something the neighborhood is currently lacking.
The statues, pictured in their final fixed locations above the cathedral’s pillars, are just one piece of an ever-developing project to turn the cathedral into a true apostolic center in the heart of Detroit, Father J.J. Mech said. Credit: Photo courtesy of Detroit Catholic
“We did a study of our neighborhood and found there is not a single park bench in any of the parks in our area,” Mech said. “We want to have park benches so people can come and rest and enjoy themselves. This will be a place where community can be built, and people will realize that the cathedral is not a fortress; we are actually unleashing the Gospel.”
And there is more.
In June, construction began on the Cathedral Arts Apartments, which will include four stories and 53 two-bedroom housing units for low-income Detroiters. The $19.7 million project is the joint effort of the Archdiocese of Detroit; MHT Housing, Inc.; and the city of Detroit and will include a community space and workforce training center.
At the end of the day, the vision of a “Cathedral of the Arts” — like the cathedrals of old — is about listening to the Holy Spirit and making a difference from the very small to the large scale, so that everyone who steps onto the property is transformed, Mech said.
“When we get people onto the campus, they start to see what we are doing, and they get involved,” he said. “Then, the Holy Spirit does the rest and helps them to get to know Our Lord in new and wonderful ways.”
Digesting “digestive” at breakfast. 🤮 There can be no doubt that Rupnik’s abuse “art” is revolting. It is wicked to put money and art before victims. Justice is inadmissible in Rome.
I hoped that there would be news about the nine-month investigation of Marko Rupnik by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith but there is none. (Guess everyone did.). However, Maria Campatelli’s letter to Centro Aletti patrons and donors reminds us of the enablers who have helped Rupnik elude charges of abuse for years and years. There always are enablers and the small group of women, like Campatelli, who followed Rupnik from the Loyala Center over thirty years ago are among his most reliable supporters. So much for believing that women always help other women who have been abused.
Rupnik himself is the subject of serious scrutiny. If his product is being subjected to “cancel culture” it should be primarily because of its derivative, unimaginative, vacuous character. That it was produced by a con artist and a serial rapist does not contribute any redeeming value to it aesthetically or financially.
Let it be gone.
So, they rehashed an old story verbatim, but tack on a PR release from Rupnik studio at head, giving it air time when many readers never get past first paragraph or two…the Rupnik studio thanks the author for this “news”…and for me a wasted click…all that was missing was a string of tweet quotes expressing “disappointment” at the Rupnik studio PR release.
I have a problem with the discussion of the quality of art. What changed in this art from before and after. The artwork is the same – I happen to not enjoy his art and never have enjoyed it. The point, for me, is that it is clearly obvious that a great number of individuals found the quality of this artwork worthy of being placed on a great number of sacred structures. Who is evaluating the artwork and who is approving its placement. How and why did this style gain such precedence when there was a host of other sources for artwork I would deem worthy of being on sacred structures.
Nothing changed, in the sense that there were also plenty of people who thought the mosaics, or at least Rupnik’s contribution to them (the illustrations) were overrated and mediocre. Those people just never got a vote or a voice. Artwork for churches is rarely chosen by laypeople or parishioners. A small group of people usually select the art, including architects,donors, pastors and priests. Anyone else gets shut out, so you’d never know that anyone disliked it. One of the ways in which Rupnik’s reputation as an artist was propped up and inflated. (I also suspect that Rupnik has been handing out sweetheart deals to prominant prelates with influence but can’t prove that.)
Rupnick’s work has been chosen not because of his expertise as an artist, but because he was a Jesuit priest. While he regretfully remains in active ministry he continues to be nothing more than a privledged amateur artistically. Those absent training in the visual/fine arts are easily impressed by anyone who can produce an image of any sort, particularly if its big. The like big. We also have the critical circumstance that his financial impact upon his clients was regarded an “inhouse” expense. If you want to get a “picture” of what can be accomplished in contemporary ecclesiastical mosaic do an image search for “mosaic of our Lady of Knock.” The work is within the interior of the Basilica at Knock. You’ll immediately recognize the deficiency of Rupnik’s confections and those of his studio across the range of craft, aesthetics, and devotion.
There is nothing there, there in Rupnik’s work. It nothing more than filler — bastardized formula confections gleaned from Byzantine masterpieces. Sherwin-Williams flat latex white would substitute in more appropriately suit any “worship-space.”
I was going to tell you how Rupnik began his career but I have done it several times here already so here is the link to an article about it in Italian, you can use Google translate option. https://amargipress.com/2023/11/
Two images above: on the left is ‘Christ Pantocrator’ by the Russian Orthodox mosaic artist Alexander Kornoukhov in the Vatican Capella ‘Redemptories Mater’. It was destroyed, together with the whole ceiling and parts of the wall, by Rupnik who then put there his own work like the image on the right, his own rendition of ‘Christ Pantocrator’.
I think the wok of two artists speaks volumes.
Anna, I have been meaning to thank you for bringing up the distressing story of the “Heavenly Jerusalem” mosaics by Alexander Kornoukhov at the Redemptoris Mater chapel several months ago. After that, I did more investigating but I did not find the book with complete images of his work that was subsequently removed and replaced by Marko Rupnik and Centro Aletti staff. Thank you so much for sharing it. (I am being deliberately calm as I write this because I might get taken over by rage otherwise.). The replacement mosaics reportedly put Rupnik on the map and led to Centro Aletti’s first series of major commissions.
I do not know who was responsible for the narrative on this page but it is substantially at odds with some of what I read when I first started looking for information about the creation of the mosaics. I do not have any English-language sources to share but used the Google translation feature that Anna mentioned.
Maybe a skilled, diligent journalist will some day be able to put the entire story together.
Psychopaths and narcissists can get pretty good at flatly denying reality. Sane people do not listen to them.
I get that there are problems with “believe all women” when it’s a case of he said, she said. But when it’s he said, she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said…. with no political reason for a takedown…
Anna you have provided the most illuminating evidence for not only the character of Rupnik, but the contrast between his inadequacy and the warmth and artistry of Alexander Kornoukhov. Many thanks. It seems to me the case is now closed. God reward you.
Would that it were so.
He deserves canceling like few ever have.
On so many grounds:
Moral. Artistic. Religious.
Even digestive — since every reference to him is utterly revolting.
Digesting “digestive” at breakfast. 🤮 There can be no doubt that Rupnik’s abuse “art” is revolting. It is wicked to put money and art before victims. Justice is inadmissible in Rome.
By defending Rupnik’s vile oeuvre, Ruffini and the rest of the Dark Vaticanners are showing what they really are. And which spirit they serve.
The whole affair makes me want to Rupnik.
Except that “Rupnick’s art” is no art at all.
The choice being offered by the woman running Centro Aletti is the same choice offered by the Pontiff Francis: “You can choose us, or choose Jesus.”
Sharp insight, in tbe sense of “cutting”.
I hoped that there would be news about the nine-month investigation of Marko Rupnik by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith but there is none. (Guess everyone did.). However, Maria Campatelli’s letter to Centro Aletti patrons and donors reminds us of the enablers who have helped Rupnik elude charges of abuse for years and years. There always are enablers and the small group of women, like Campatelli, who followed Rupnik from the Loyala Center over thirty years ago are among his most reliable supporters. So much for believing that women always help other women who have been abused.
Rupnik himself is the subject of serious scrutiny. If his product is being subjected to “cancel culture” it should be primarily because of its derivative, unimaginative, vacuous character. That it was produced by a con artist and a serial rapist does not contribute any redeeming value to it aesthetically or financially.
Let it be gone.
So, they rehashed an old story verbatim, but tack on a PR release from Rupnik studio at head, giving it air time when many readers never get past first paragraph or two…the Rupnik studio thanks the author for this “news”…and for me a wasted click…all that was missing was a string of tweet quotes expressing “disappointment” at the Rupnik studio PR release.
I have a problem with the discussion of the quality of art. What changed in this art from before and after. The artwork is the same – I happen to not enjoy his art and never have enjoyed it. The point, for me, is that it is clearly obvious that a great number of individuals found the quality of this artwork worthy of being placed on a great number of sacred structures. Who is evaluating the artwork and who is approving its placement. How and why did this style gain such precedence when there was a host of other sources for artwork I would deem worthy of being on sacred structures.
Nothing changed, in the sense that there were also plenty of people who thought the mosaics, or at least Rupnik’s contribution to them (the illustrations) were overrated and mediocre. Those people just never got a vote or a voice. Artwork for churches is rarely chosen by laypeople or parishioners. A small group of people usually select the art, including architects,donors, pastors and priests. Anyone else gets shut out, so you’d never know that anyone disliked it. One of the ways in which Rupnik’s reputation as an artist was propped up and inflated. (I also suspect that Rupnik has been handing out sweetheart deals to prominant prelates with influence but can’t prove that.)
Rupnick’s work has been chosen not because of his expertise as an artist, but because he was a Jesuit priest. While he regretfully remains in active ministry he continues to be nothing more than a privledged amateur artistically. Those absent training in the visual/fine arts are easily impressed by anyone who can produce an image of any sort, particularly if its big. The like big. We also have the critical circumstance that his financial impact upon his clients was regarded an “inhouse” expense. If you want to get a “picture” of what can be accomplished in contemporary ecclesiastical mosaic do an image search for “mosaic of our Lady of Knock.” The work is within the interior of the Basilica at Knock. You’ll immediately recognize the deficiency of Rupnik’s confections and those of his studio across the range of craft, aesthetics, and devotion.
There is nothing there, there in Rupnik’s work. It nothing more than filler — bastardized formula confections gleaned from Byzantine masterpieces. Sherwin-Williams flat latex white would substitute in more appropriately suit any “worship-space.”
I was going to tell you how Rupnik began his career but I have done it several times here already so here is the link to an article about it in Italian, you can use Google translate option.
https://amargipress.com/2023/11/
Two images above: on the left is ‘Christ Pantocrator’ by the Russian Orthodox mosaic artist Alexander Kornoukhov in the Vatican Capella ‘Redemptories Mater’. It was destroyed, together with the whole ceiling and parts of the wall, by Rupnik who then put there his own work like the image on the right, his own rendition of ‘Christ Pantocrator’.
I think the wok of two artists speaks volumes.
Hence, if you want to see the work of Kornoukhov here is a printed book with photos of his (mostly) destroyed art
https://www.kornoukhov.com/_files/ugd/2181c1_2c93aa63b56640c68ae385544491d6e6.pdf
I think the story of lies and deception will answer your question, of why Rupnik’s art is everywhere.
Anna, I have been meaning to thank you for bringing up the distressing story of the “Heavenly Jerusalem” mosaics by Alexander Kornoukhov at the Redemptoris Mater chapel several months ago. After that, I did more investigating but I did not find the book with complete images of his work that was subsequently removed and replaced by Marko Rupnik and Centro Aletti staff. Thank you so much for sharing it. (I am being deliberately calm as I write this because I might get taken over by rage otherwise.). The replacement mosaics reportedly put Rupnik on the map and led to Centro Aletti’s first series of major commissions.
If anyone wants to see the current state of the walls, there is a virtual 365 degree display but anyone looking at it may want to pray beforehand, in case you respond like I did, It is to weep: https://www.vatican.va/content/dam/vatican/virtualtour/redemptorismater/index.html
I do not know who was responsible for the narrative on this page but it is substantially at odds with some of what I read when I first started looking for information about the creation of the mosaics. I do not have any English-language sources to share but used the Google translation feature that Anna mentioned.
Maybe a skilled, diligent journalist will some day be able to put the entire story together.
Psychopaths and narcissists can get pretty good at flatly denying reality. Sane people do not listen to them.
I get that there are problems with “believe all women” when it’s a case of he said, she said. But when it’s he said, she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said, and she said…. with no political reason for a takedown…
Casting Rupnik as a ‘victim’ – I must admit that I didn’t see that one coming.
Nice touch.
Anna you have provided the most illuminating evidence for not only the character of Rupnik, but the contrast between his inadequacy and the warmth and artistry of Alexander Kornoukhov. Many thanks. It seems to me the case is now closed. God reward you.