ROME, Italy (AFP) — The Catholic Church is under pressure to remove hundreds of mosaics by a priest who is a world-renowned artist following a request Friday by five women who have accused him of sexual assault.

Slovenian mosaic artist Marko Rupnik is accused of having carried out psychological and sexual violence on at least 20 women over a period of nearly 30 years.

According to the allegations, this happened mainly within the community he led in Ljubljana. He has already been kicked out of his order following admissions he made regarding some of the allegations.

More than 200 of his works are on display in churches from Madrid to Washington, at pilgrimage sites such as Lourdes and Fatima, as well as at the Vatican.

The five women asked the dioceses concerned for his works to be taken down in a letter published Friday.

The mosaics “are exhibited in places in which each believer collects himself in prayer... and disturb the souls of the faithful,” lawyer Laura Sgro wrote in the letter on their behalf.

“Many women who have suffered irreparable injuries... relive” their trauma when faced with the mosaics, the letter said.

It also alleged that Rupnik had sexually assaulted at least one nun while some of the mosaics were being assembled, while other nuns claimed to have been assaulted while modeling for the priest.

Three of the women are from Italy, France and Slovenia respectively. The other two chose to remain entirely anonymous.