Rome, Italy, Oct 1, 2010 / 08:04 am
Bishop Domenico Mogavero is wondering just what was meant to be accomplished through a work of art that makes a joke of Nazism. Poking fun at an ideology that "trampled man," he said, is a "risky operation."
A painting by Sicilian artist Giuseppe Veneziano has again drawn the attention of Church officials and the media in Italy. "The Madonna of the Third Reich," which depicts the Virgin Mary with a child Hitler in her arms, has before been met with disgust but is now on display again in the city of Solemi, Italy.
Italian Bishop of Mazara del Vallo, Domenico Mogavero, told SIR news that the work has been the subject of controversy for some time, but that he himself is not "upset, nor worried by the punches to the stomach dealt by single artists and those who hold them in esteem.
"But," he added, "I ask myself … what is the message they intend to communicate?"