Stop Using Art Created in Violence: A Survivor’s Call

By Cecilia Cicone

When I first learned that Father Marko Rupnik had been credibly accused of serial sexual abuse, particularly of nuns, it took me several days to digest the news. Years before, I had been in religious training myself and had read his book on discernment. It had a significant impact on my own understanding of what it means to hear God’s voice.

The idea that this priest, with his easily recognizable mosaics covering churches and chapels in the United States, Lourdes, Rome and around the world, used his position of spiritual power to abuse women was overwhelming.

The Vatican was slow to respond in the case of Father Marko Rupnik. At first, it said it could do nothing because of the statute of limitations, but Pope Francis eventually removed that obstacle. The Jesuits later expelled Rupnik from their order, citing “disobedience,” but he was welcomed back to his native diocese in Slovenia. Although Rupnik’s victims said his art could not be separated from the abuse he suffered and that it should be removed, Vatican Media continued to use images of his work in its publications and in holiday messages on its website.

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, every story of abuse in the Church that comes to light brings to the surface some of my greatest fears. I have found great comfort and healing in the Church, especially in the sacraments, and I can confidently say that this is the Church that Christ founded and where He is truly present. But knowing that there are powerful men who use their spiritual authority as a means to perpetrate the same kind of abuse that I have experienced throughout my life makes me question whether or not I can safely enter a Catholic church, enter a confessional, or participate in spiritual direction.

Sexual abuse changes a person in unimaginable ways, even affecting their own self-esteem. Many, like me, develop post-traumatic stress disorder or dissociative disorders. Our brains and bodies are literally transformed by what we have experienced, trying to protect ourselves from further harm, even when we sleep or surf social media. Others struggle to build trusting relationships or try to cope with the feeling of having been so deeply violated by using drugs or alcohol.

This is one reason why the continued use of artwork by accused serial sexual abuser Father Marko Rupnik is so damaging to survivors of sexual abuse. In our daily lives, we may come across a social media post or an article about a church party and be confronted with the characteristic black eyes of a Rupnik mosaic. Completely out of our control, alarm bells start to ring: “There is an abuser with power in this church. For some reason, he is being defended by those in charge. I am not safe here.”

We live in an age of synodality, where the Church is trying to become a listening Church, and yet the testimonies and pleas of survivors, especially in the case of Rupnik’s work, fall on deaf ears. Rome says it wants to hear us, but when we take the vulnerable step of pointing out that we are hurt when the Vatican continues to use these shocking images, the Church seems to support the aggressor rather than the victim, with those responsible telling us, literally, “you are wrong.”

Some, including Dr. Paolo Ruffini, head of the Vatican’s communications department, have warned against destroying Rupnik’s mosaics, saying it would be a form of iconoclasm that simply does not constitute a “Christian response.” For Ruffini, even removing Rupnik’s works from the Vatican website is a step too far, a judgment by Rupnik that is not in line with Pope Francis’ call for mercy.

I consider myself a survivor of sexual abuse because, despite the actions of my attackers and sometimes even my own, I survived. The sad reality is that not everyone survives sexual abuse because of the difficulty in feeling safe after being so deeply hurt.

The people who have helped me on my journey are those who have listened to me and affirmed my experience, those who have believed me and asked how they can help me know that I am safe. They recognize the depth of my wounds, even though no one can truly understand them, and they are moved by compassion to take steps to ensure that this never happens again. For me, it is precisely because I love the Church so much that my conscience will not allow me to remain silent when I hear of abuse within the body of Christ.

This is the Christian response to the horrific reality of sexual abuse: to listen to the stories and experiences of survivors, to believe them, and to be moved by compassion to act. The response of ignoring the experiences of victims, of defending the abuser, is not of God. It is a decision to choose art over human beings.

One day someone will have to answer for this decision, if not on earth, then before God himself.

Cecilia Cicone is a Catholic author and communicator based in Northwest Indiana. You can contact her on social media @cecsquared or through her website, ceciliacicone.com. The opinions expressed here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer.