It was a strange coincidence. On Monday, April 21, just hours after the death of Pope Francis, Sister Samuelle, a hermit nun living in Aube, northeastern France, and filmmaker Quentin Delcourt announced the launch of an artistic project titled Renaissance. The giant 50-square-meter mosaic will be created collectively by about a dozen nuns and monks who are victims of spiritual and sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, with the help of journalists, lawyers and friends. The artwork will later be divided into 200 pieces, with the hope of placing them permanently in as many holy places decorated by Marko Rupnik, a Jesuit priest and renowned mosaic artist accused of psychological and sexual violence by around 40 women.
Delcourt did not choose Easter by chance to officially launch this project: “It was the idea of a resurrection with its wounds,” he explained. The death of the pontiff on the same day gave an unexpected resonance to this project. Especially since the Jesuit pope, who was ambiguous on these subjects, is suspected by the Italian press of having covered up for Rupnik for a long time. In October 2023, the Vatican, whose Redemptoris Mater chapel was decorated by Rupnik, eventually lifted the statute of limitations to allow a trial to take place, without ceasing to use Rupnik’s mosaics in its online communications. “Pope Francis did not at all understand the gravity of the matter and was not clear about Rupnik,” said Sister Samuelle.
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