Slovenian priest-artist creates mosaics for Knights' chapel

Published: 2005-03-08

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) -- The artist whose mosaics grace the Vatican's magnificent Redemptoris Mater Chapel has installed a new set of mosaics in the Holy Family Chapel at the international headquarters of the Knights of Columbus in New Haven. Clad in red overalls, Jesuit Father Marko Ivan Rupnik and his team of eight artists from Rome worked 13- and 14-hour days from Jan. 22 to Feb. 12 to install the floor-to-ceiling mosaics in the Connecticut chapel. The 50-year-old Slovenian priest, artist, theologian, teacher and author is director of Rome's Centro Aletti, a community of scholars and artists committed to bridging Eastern and Western traditions through theological dialogue, research, reflection and publication. The community was responsible for decorating the Vatican chapel, which was closed from 1996-99 while artists covered the walls and ceiling with mosaics designed and executed by Father Rupnik and a Russian Orthodox artist. The chapel at the Knights of Columbus headquarters is the 25th the priest has designed. Father Rupnik's work incorporates splashes of color, light, theological symbolism and touches of Eastern and Western traditions.

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