Why controversy skipped the Rupnik unveiling in Brazil

SÃO PAULO – A major Marian shrine in Brazil unveiled the last of four giant mosaics by an accused serial rapist earlier this month.

The Sept. 12 unveiling of the fourth and final façade of the Basilica of Aparecida went off with little controversy in the country, a fact remarkable given the global notoriety of the accused priest, Father Marko Rupnik.

The Slovenian-born former Jesuit is accused of serial sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse over a period of thirty years, much of it in Rome, during which he built a reputation as a mosaic artist and a spiritual master.

Church watchers and advocates for victims of clerical abuse criticized the decision by the Basilica of Aparecida – which is run by Redemptorist priests – to proceed with the installation of the mosaics, but the ceremony did not generate much controversy in Brazil.

According to sources familiar with the process, the works began in 2019, after the Redemptorists and the Diocese of Aparecida in São Paulo state decided that Rupnik’s work could help turn the shrine into an international pilgrimage destination.

In 2019, Rupnik was more than just a known quantity. He was something of an international celebrity in ecclesiastical