WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — According to a report, a Knights of Columbus council in D.C. has called on state and national governance of the Knights to remove the images by the notorious serial abuser Father Marko Rupnik, which are installed in the D.C. National Shrine of St. John Paul II.
An April 16 report published by The Pillar cited a decision made on April 9 by the Cardinal O’Boyle Council 11302 of the Knights of Columbus. According to the resolution made by the council – “obtained” by The Pillar but not published – the council issued a direct petition for the famous images adorning the D.C. Shrine of St. John Paul II run by the Knights to be removed, given that they are made by Rupnik.
The Pillar wrote that the council’s resolution stated:
O’Boyle Council calls upon the executive leadership of the Washington, DC State Council of the Knights of Columbus (State Council) and the executive leadership of the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus (Supreme Council) to renovate the Shrine such that the mosaics in both the Redemptor Hominis Church and the Luminous Mysteries Chapel created by Fr. Rupnik are removed and replaced with liturgical art suitable to the celebration of the sacraments.
Not content with the images being removed, the O’Boyle Council also demanded that the images be immediately covered and a plan made public to remove them, reported The Pillar.
“O’Boyle Council calls upon the executive leadership of the Washington, D.C., State Council and the executive leadership of the Supreme Council to immediately make a public apology to survivors of Fr. Rupnik’s abuse for the Order’s continued inaction in addressing the matter of the mosaics in the Shrine,” the resolution reportedly continued.
LifeSiteNews contacted the Knights of Columbus on April 17 (and again April 25), requesting comment on the matter and clarification on the O’Boyle Council’s resolution, but did not receive a reply.
The O’Boyle Council’s reported resolution comes some weeks after the Knights were placed in the spotlight over their as yet undecided stance on the future of the Rupnik mosaics at the D.C. shrine they own and have charge of.
The Shrine is heavily adorned with images by disgraced ex-Jesuit Rupnik and his Rome-based Centro Aletti art center. The thousands of annual visitors to the shrine can view his work in the shrine’s Redemptor Hominis Church along with the Luminous Mysteries Chapel. In addition, Rupnik made his first work in the U.S. at the Knights of Columbus headquarters in Connecticut in 2005.
READ: Disgraced Fr. Rupnik continues to live at his Rome art center where alleged abuses took place
On March 7, the Knights’ director of communications stated – in response to media questions – that they were “carefully considering the best course of action concerning the art that was installed by the Centro Aletti community here at the Shrine.”
“The shrine remains committed to carrying out its mission of evangelization through the teachings of St. John Paul II, to which instances of abuse are antithetical,” the statement continued.
However, such a statement showed no signs of progression from the statement the Knights issued in June 2023, in which the Knights stated they were “considering” what to do with Rupnik’s images in their chapels.
Since the scandal surrounding Rupnik became international in late 2021, renewed attention has been paid to his influence in the global Church and the numerous art projects which he and his Centro Aletti have installed throughout the world.
Rupnik’s artwork – while staunchly defended by his supporters, including Pope Francis – has been intimately linked to his alleged serial abuse, which is believed to be of multiple forms, but especially sexual.
READ: Former nun details years of ‘satanic’ sex abuse by Jesuit priest Fr. Rupnik
Writing under a pseudonym “Anna” in December 2022, one alleged victim and former member of Rupnik’s community, stated that “his sexual obsession was not extemporaneous but deeply connected to his conception of art and his theological thinking. Father Marko at first slowly and gently infiltrated my psychological and spiritual world by appealing to my uncertainties and frailties while using my relationship with God to push me to have sexual experiences with him.”
While the accusations are yet to be judicially proven, Rupnik’s former superior Father Johan Verschueren, S.J., stated that the credibility of the allegations against Rupnik is “very high.” A 150-page dossier has been compiled by the Jesuits regarding alleged abuses committed by Rupnik, dating back to 1985.
While some English dioceses have committed to remove Rupnik artwork, others have taken a different policy, with Pope Francis promoting Rupnik’s images in June 2023 and the Vatican’ Synod office doing so in September 2023. They still remain in regular use by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, after officials there decided “there was nothing to prevent the continued use of Rupnik’s mosaics.”