Benedict XVI invites Christians to react to all lack of respect toward God

 In this letter, the writer, assessor Brian Wells mentions a work “that is offensive to Our Lord Jesus Christ as well as to Christians” and reports that “His Holiness hopes that any lack of respect for God, the saints, and religious symbols meet with a strong and composed reaction from the Christian community, illuminated and guided by their pastors.”  Benedict XVI was responding to a letter from an Italian Dominican priest who had written to the pope denouncing the “blasphemous” character of the play by the Italian producer scheduled to open in Milan in late January.  Father Giovanni Cavalcoli wrote to the Holy Father on behalf of a group of Catholic faithful, describing Castellucci’s spectacle as “unworthy and blasphemous”, an artwork seriously offensive to “the person of Our divine Savior Jesus Christ”.

In France, where the play by the Italian artist has been produced in Paris, Rennes, Toulouse and Lille, the reactions from the bishops had been more timid.  Thus the President of the French Bishops Conference, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, had stated on Radio Notre-Dame on October 29, 2011, that he “did not know whether this play is blasphemous”, preferring to denounce the “violence” of the demonstrators and to describe them as “little groups claiming the authority of the Catholic Church without any mandate, who are in fact affiliated to the Lefebvrist movement (sic)”.

As for Archbishop d’Ornellas of Rennes, he commented on the television network “France 3” on November 10, 2011:  “It is clear that there is no anti-Christian sentiment in this play,” and “demonstrating against Castellucci is a mistaken point of view”.

For the record, On the Concept of the Face of the Son of God presents a son and his incontinent father, against a giant backdrop reproducing the face of Christ as painted by Antonello da Messina (1430-1479).  The play includes scenes in which children throw grenades at the portrait of Christ and liquid substances resembling excrement are poured out on it.