Newsroom (02/04/2025 15:54, Gaudium Press): The two side doors of the Basilica of the Rosary, which feature mosaics by Marko Rupnik, have been covered with aluminum panels. The Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Monsignor Jean-Marc Micas, announced that in a few days, the mosaics on the two large central doors will also be covered.
On the eve of the opening of the Plenary Assembly of the Bishops of France at the Marian shrine of Lourdes, the diocesan bishop Jean-Marc Micas announced that the side entrance doors to the basilica, which feature mosaics by the Slovenian former Jesuit Marko Rupnik, accused of psychological and sexual abuse by religious women, will be covered with aluminum panels. This will facilitate access to the basilica “for people who cannot cross the entrance today”, said the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes. This is a “new symbolic step”, explains Bishop Micas in a statement published on the shrine’s website on Monday, March 31, recalling that, on the occasion of the Holy Year, he signed a decree “declaring that the shrine of Lourdes is one of the two places in the diocese (along with the cathedral of Tarbes) where people can live the Jubilee Year and benefit from a plenary indulgence”. As such, he believes that “the entrance to the basilica should be symbolic of the moment”.
“A second stage” after the lighting was switched off.
On Monday, March 31, the mosaics of the two side doors of the Basilica of the Rosary were covered with aluminum panels. The bishop added that “the two large central doors will be covered in a few days, before the start of the pilgrimage season to Lourdes.”
For Bishop Micas, this is a “second stage”, following a decision on July 2, 2024, to suspend the lighting of the mosaics during the night processions. “For the time being, no decision has been taken regarding the other mosaics in the basilica,” explains the shrine’s spokesman, David Torchala. A working group has been set up to reflect and accompany the bishop in his decisions. “We prefer to act calmly,” says Bishop Micas, ”rather than being under fire from various pressures. We are working for the long term, for the victims, for the Church, for Lourdes and its message to everyone.”
With information from Vatican news
Compiled by Dominic Joseph
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