World-renowned church covers up artworks by priest accused of abuse
One of the world's most popular Catholic pilgrimage sites is covering up a series of mosaics made by a priest accused of sex abuse.
The artworks, by Rev. Mark Rupnik, adorn the facade of the Rosary Basilica in Lourdes near the France -Spain border.
Mr Rupnik was expelled from the Catholic Jesuit order in 2023, but remains a priest.
He has been accused by about 25 people of various types of abuse. Most of his accusers are former Catholic nuns.
In 2023, the Vatican reopened an investigation into the allegations. That is still ongoing.
About five million Catholics visit the Lourdes basilica every year to experience the spring water of the area, which is said to have healing properties.
On Monday, workers placed large coverings over many of the mosaics, Lourdes Bishop Jean-Marc Micas said.
"A new symbolic step needed to be taken to facilitate entry into the basilica for all the people who today cannot cross its threshold," the bishop said, in an apparent reference to clergy abuse victims.
He had previously declined to cover the images but ordered in July 2024 that they no longer be illuminated at night.
Laura Sgro, a lawyer representing five of Mr Rupnik's alleged victims, welcomed the move on Monday.
"Every believer, and not just every victim of abuse, must have an open heart when praying, and this cannot happen if they have to kneel before a work of art that was likely the place where abuse was experienced," she said in a statement.
Mr Rupnik's artwork is thought to adorn some 200 churches and chapels around the world, and is also known to adorn at least one chapel at the Vatican.
Vatican officials have largely declined to comment on the allegations, citing the ongoing investigation into Rupnik.
Cardinal Victor Fernandez, the Catholic Church's chief doctrine official, said earlier this month that he was starting to contact lawyers who could serve as judges in a likely church trial against Rupnik.
Last week, the Jesuit order began reaching out to some of Rupnik's alleged victims to start a process of offering reparations on a case-by-case basis.
Ms Sgro called the letters a "clear, strong and concrete gesture" and "an important step forward".
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The Courier
a day ago
- The Courier
Angus teacher accused of calling bosses 'terrorist sympathisers' and writing 'abusive and offensive' Facebook posts
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The GTC says these posts would have been accessible to parents, pupils, colleagues and members of the public. In one of the comments, alongside an article titled 'Travellers who wrecked historic brewery are jailed for eight years', he wrote: 'Travellers, no wonder why in Romania, Bulgaria, Italy and other countries, these 'people' are, let's say 'unloved' everywhere they go they wreck places, steal, leave rubbish, criminality is rising. U***********n.' In another post with a link to a controversial website claiming to provide updates on religious extremism, he said: 'This is the death cult that Shemina Begum, the Isis w***e joined. 'More atrocities. 'She and her little inbred should never be allowed back in Europe.' He also shared a post with a picture containing the heading 'Christianity History' and the comment 'If you think ISIS is bad. This is what Catholics use (sic) to do. 'Think people.' Magalon wrote: 'A m**z trying to take the moral stance, ignoring today's actions by his fellow cult followers and instead trying to deflect their tortures, rapes and murders by showing actions from the distant past (at least 500 years ago). 'Get a life m**z.' The teacher is also accused of sharing a picture of Kermit the Frog holding a wine bottle with the comment 'Awww you're spreading rumours about me…at least you found a hobby spreading something other than your legs b***h!'. He wrote alongside the image: 'Sure someone will know what I mean and recognise herself.' With a photograph of a group of people wearing garments covering their face and body, he wrote: 'Never, in the history of sun shades, so many black parasols been put on display. 'On a more serious note, these filthy tarts are the remnants of Isis terrorist brides. 'Can't believe so many were missed by air strikes.' Another of Magalon's Facebook posts being investigated said: 'Just had the misfortune meet to a woman that is angry at the fact that she is working class and does not like middle class because her mother was a single mother, hello, not my fault, don't cry baby, not my fault if your understanding is…well…rather flawed by a lack of, yes, you guessed it, neuron count. 'Well obviously not highly educated, an IQ the size of my shoe size. 'Well can't stop laughing. Poor her. Gave me the example of Maggie Thatcher from…30 years ago!!!…err…wake up women, it is the 21st century! 'Now be a good girl, get a proper education, now I know, difficult if you don't have enough data storage. Never mind. Life can be so cruel.' In addition, while still employed at Lochside Primary in March 2020, Magalon sent a text which claimed bosses at Angus Council were 'terrorist sympathisers'. It is not stated who received the text, which appeared to be sent before a meeting deciding whether he would continue as a council employee. Magalon was initially suspended and took early voluntary retirement in May 2020. He wrote: 'Now, inevitably, me not being able to say anything will change on 31st and rest assured, I will not hesitate to open up and say what I couldn't as an Angus employee. 'There will be special mention for the snowflakes that took exception of my Facebook posts and whether they were from school or the education dept. at Orchardbank they will definitely not be spared and will be named and likely to be shamed as terrorist sympathisers, and why not. 'I am really looking forward to this in fact. 'As I said previously, my parting shots will be straight to the point. 'Sadly, I am not Jesus, I neither forgive nor forget therefore those who have wronged me will bear the brunt of my anger and will not be forgotten.' On January 19 2021 the teacher also sent an email to GTC Scotland in response to a newsletter. It said: 'Amazing, after all that time, weeks into second lockdown, (not to mention the first lockdown), the GTC, at least, decide to take their fingers out of their asses and publish something, something that is obviously completely inadequate and irrelevant. Bravo and thank you (not).' The watchdog says Magalon's actions were 'lacking in integrity'. A spokesperson for Angus Council confirmed the teacher no longer works for the local authority, adding: 'It is not appropriate to comment further at this time'. The Courier has attempted to contact Magalon for a response to the allegations.
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
I know the ingredients of Ulster's riots only too well
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My own family history was far from simple. On my maternal side, it was all Irish, Republican and Catholic. On the paternal side, all British, Loyalist and Protestant. Only in a place like Northern Ireland could the term 'mixed marriage' exist into the 21st century. So I got to know what makes both sides tick. I learned to understand – not accept, just understand – their hatreds. When I learned enough, I'd had enough. That's why I left and have lived in Scotland these last 30 years. I couldn't bear the place anymore. Though, in my heart, I still love its beauty, and its people. When my people are good – on both sides – they're very, very good. When they're bad, they're monsters. There's a terrible truth about what has happened in Northern Ireland, which might help folk in Scotland, bewildered by the labyrinthine history and tribal complexity of my country, understand the deep roots of recent events. Read more: The truth lies in what's called the 'siege mentality' of Ulster's loyalists. I deliberately differentiate between loyalism and unionism. Unionism is a perfectly respectable, mainstream political position. Loyalism has much darker shades to it. Everything is on a spectrum in Northern Ireland. There is, after all, a world of difference between an Irish nationalist who believes in gaining a United Ireland through democratic means, and an advocate of the IRA and armed republicanism. Loyalism's siege mentality has deep roots in the past. It goes back to the Plantation of Ulster in the 1600s, when mostly Scottish Protestants settled lands once owned by Irish Catholics. In effect, Ireland became the first 'British' colony, and Ulster was ground zero. To take someone's land you must fight them, and that means you must kill them and they'll kill you back. To kill people, you must learn to hate them. Therein lies the source of loyalism's siege mentality. Loyalists just never felt safe on the land they took. Why would someone from Ireland, like me, have a name like 'Mackay'? The plantation is your answer. Sometime, long ago, my paternal Scottish ancestors colonised the land which my maternal Irish ancestors owned. Siege mentality requires a sense of your own supremacy. You must think: this is my land, nobody else deserves it. Wars and bloodshed have come and gone, but such ancestral traits are hard to shake. All of us carry some burden inherited from our grandfathers and grandmothers. The Troubles are over. Such a ghastly euphemism for what it was: an ethnic civil war of neighbour against neighbour. But grievance and supremacy linger on. To many hardline loyalists, this land is still their land and nobody can claim any right to it; others do not belong, just as Catholics once didn't belong. You can see how such deep psychological currents can easily wash up against the shores of present-day racism and anti-immigrant hate. Thus, all those loyalist flags placed in immigrant windows; thus, all those signs saying 'we're local, we work in care homes'. It was an attempt to say 'we don't threaten you', 'we aren't here to take what you believe is yours'. Even after the riots began, politicians from the hardline Traditional Unionist Voice party talked of 'the influx of Roma' and 'very real grievances' among the people of Ballymena. So far, it appears that loyalist paramilitaries are not orchestrating the violence. Yet. Though the burning of homes has called to mind images of loyalist mobs burning Catholics out of Belfast at the start of the Troubles: the trigger for the arrival of the British army. Aaron Edwards, a Northern Irish security analyst and author who I know and whose work on loyalism I respect, says the absence of loyalist paramilitaries 'may not last for long'. The areas where rioting happened are poor. It is easy for violent men to exploit marginalisation and deprivation. 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The Guardian
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- The Guardian
Louisiana man groomed by priest says he felt ‘nauseous' at clergyman's parole hearing
A young man who received inappropriate text messages from his Catholic high school chaplain that ultimately helped send the priest to prison in Louisiana for child molestation says he was 'nauseous' watching the clergyman appear at a parole hearing Thursday and try to downplay the nature of the communications as 'friendly'. 'There was honestly a moment I thought I was going to vomit,' Rex Perrette told Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana during an interview after watching the hearing virtually, his first public comments ever about his role in the case that landed Patrick Wattigny behind bars. 'It also [is] a disgustful feeling.' Perrette recounted how he was 16 and attending Pope John Paul II Catholic high school in Slidell, Louisiana, near New Orleans, when the campus chaplain Wattigny began texting him privately in about the fall of 2019. Wattigny, who was denied an early release from prison Thursday, would compliment his curly hair, muscular physique and devotion to lifting weights while also expressing a paternal affection for him, Perrette recalled. But Perrette also said Wattigny 'at least 20 times' asked when he would turn 18 and reach adulthood, questions that he now regards as having 'sexual implications'. He said Wattigny would also try to make him feel bad if he took a long time replying, accusing Perrette of being mad at him. Perrette's mother, Wendy, discovered the exchanges in February 2020 when she caught Rex texting someone late one night, insisted on seeing who it was and realized it was Wattigny. Wendy Perrette, who was the mayor of Bogalusa, Louisiana, at the time, then complained to Wattigny's superiors at the archdiocese of New Orleans. New Orleans' archbishop, Gregory Aymond, at first tried handling the matter by securing a promise from Wattigny to stop texting Rex Perrette. Yet Wattigny told parole officials Thursday that he 'gave in' and resumed texting Perrette amid the stress of the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic. As Wattigny put it, Aymond sent him to a 30-day retreat that involved psychological testing. He then went to a behavioral health clinic in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in September 2020 for a psychological evaluation. The evaluation involved taking a lie detector test, which prompted Wattigny to confess to molesting one of his students, who was not Perrette. 'The polygraph was something I knew I … couldn't outrun, and so I decided it was better for me to come clean and tell what I had done,' Wattigny said Thursday. The archdiocese suspended Wattigny from ministry in October 2020. He was subsequently reported to authorities, who charged him with molesting two children – neither of which was Perrette. The texts to Perrette, meanwhile, did not yield criminal charges because they had not been accompanied by any physical harm. Wattigny pleaded guilty in July 2023 to one count of molestation of a juvenile who was under his supervision about a decade earlier. On the second charge, dating back to the 1990s, Wattigny entered an Alford plea, in which he maintained his innocence yet conceded that overwhelming evidence against him would probably get him convicted at trial. A judge gave Wattigny, 57, five years in prison while requiring him to register as a sex offender and spend time on probation after his release. On Thursday, after serving less than two years, he requested to be freed early, saying he had completed sex offender treatment and was eager to care for his elderly parents. Yet parole officials denied Wattigny after he seemingly equivocated when asked about the tone of his texts to Perrette. Wattigny claimed the texts to Perrette were 'just … friendly', albeit in violation of church policies against privately messaging people who are younger than 18. 'Was the text messaging of a sexual nature? No, it was not,' Wattigny said. But parole board member Carolyn Stapleton asked why Aymond had forced him to undergo psychological evaluation if the texts were merely friendly. Wattigny stammered, asking himself: 'How do I answer the question properly?' He finally acknowledged that he harbored a sexual attraction for Perrette. 'Was I sexually attracted to this person [who] I was texting?' Wattigny remarked as he stumbled over his words. 'Yes, I was – I had felt this attraction to him.' Perrette said that was the first time he had ever heard Wattigny admit he was texting him out of lust – and it angered him. 'It [is] just a rage that I can't describe,' said Perrette, who is now 21 and seeking to attend veterinary school after graduating from Louisiana State University. 'Hearing that was a little overwhelming.' The abuse survivor at the center of Wattigny's Alford plea, Tim Gioe, more recently championed an effort for Louisiana to outlaw grooming, or behavior attempting to gain children's trust with the intent to sexually abuse them. Gioe was supported by his wife, Sarah, whose father is Louisiana state senator Pat Connick. Connick in April presented a bill to Louisiana's legislature aiming to criminalize grooming, one form of which is inappropriate texts to minors. Lawmakers passed the bill without opposition in early June, and Louisiana governor Jeff Landry signed the legislation into law on Tuesday. 'I think it's amazing,' Perrette said about the bill that Gioe and his family had helmed. 'And I'm so happy that I get to live in a state that made a decision like that to try [to] protect our youth.' In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
