My painting Five Popes is a picture of what I consider to be five of the most horrible persons ever. It's really more of a comment to the celebrations of John Paul II, his work and the papal chair in general, then it is a comment to the catholic church and its cooperation with dictatorships.
Though all five of the popes depicted have links to fascism. Pius IX was violently anti-democratic and publically referred to Jews as "dogs" who went around "barking in all the streets" and "molesting people everywhere. " Pius XI celebrated Mussolini as a man "a man sent by Divine Providence", wrote in Quadragesimo Anno, 1931 that he recommended all Catholic countries to adopt the Fascist Corporate State and together with Pacelli (later Pius XII) he signed the Vatican-German Concordat of 1933 with Hitler.
Without Pacelli Hitler would never have been able to dissolve the parliament, ban the other parties and become sole dictator. It was Pacelli who convinced the German Catholic Centre Party to vote for Hitler's sole power in the spring of 1933 (and then to dissolve their party). That single action changed everything. Pius XII also celebrated general Franco and it was through Pius XII's Vatican that war criminals like Adolf Eichmann, Klaus Barbie and Ante Pavelic got false Red Cross passports and could escape to Buenos Aires at the end of World War 2. It's no exaggeration to say that during the reign of Pius XI and Pius XII the Vatican signed agreements with every fascist state that popped up. Congratulations and papal blessings went out to almost every right wing dictator in the world. Pius XII even organised Hitlers 50th birthday (with yearly congratulations following every year til his death).
John Paul II celebrated Pinochet. Even long after his deed had become known and condemned worldwide (see telegram). He got one of the 20th century's worst bastards José Maria Escrivá de Balaguer a sainthood at the record time of only 27 years after his death. That's as if Josef Mengele would be awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicin postumous.
John Paul II preached to african AIDS-victims that using a condom is a grave sin. He worked against women priests, married priests and homosexual priest yet but took an active part in the cover-up of 1000's of cases of Catholic priests molesting children.
Benedictus XVI is just a continuation of these politics. As for his nazi past; he himself says that he was excused from membership in the Hitler Jugend due to his Catholic studies, but that he volunteered to join anyway only to get some extra money from the nazi state for his studies. You can debate wether that makes him an innocvent victim or not, but I leave that discussion to others (I could write that it is certainly in the tradition of the Vatican to support fascist dictators for purely finacial reasons but that would be a cheap shot). No-one can say with absolute certainty where he stood politically back then, to me it looks like a finacial descision made by a 14-year old, ánd I don't care much about it one way or the other. More important is how he during the recent US elections said on the abortion issue that people like John Kerry should be denied communion as he wasn't anti-choise.
In the very moment Ratzinger bacame pope Benedictus XVI everything he says regarding faith and religion turns into absolute and infallable truth, while pure idiocy like him pretending that the name AC/DC stands for "anti-Christ, death to Christ" or that the Beatles is a threat to christianity shows a complete lack of understanding of the world and screams out that he is unfit to lead even the most insignificant group.
During his previous work he reviewed a case by nine seminarians who accused Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, of sexual assault. Ratzinger hid the case away and made a comment that he didn't think it was "prudent" to proceed against a man who had helped the church by attracting so many young men to the priesthood.
In the early 2000s it was finally revealed that catholic priests had systematically molested children in their parishes. 1000s of cases were discovered. Undre John Paul II Ratzinger wrote a threating letter to every single catholic bishop in May 2001. Anyone who testified in any way or form about those cases would be punished or excommunicated. Any and all information on or claims of sexual abuse should go to Ratzinger's Vatican office Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and not to anyone else. The church's juridiction according to Ratzinger's letter lasts until the crime's been barred by the statue of limitation. Though he is not likely to be convicted it is interesting that the pope as of April 23 2005 is facing claims of obstructing justice in a Texas child sex abuse trial.
I find it absurd that men like these can be leaders of over a billion people.
I think mass executions of innocent people and molesting children is a greater sin that using a condom. Others obviously don't. That's the comment I've made with the painting.
Karl Backman, May 2005
Fem Popes Karl Backman 2005 Oil on linnen
144 x 210 cm
A telegram sent by Cardinal Angelo Sodano and Pope John Paul II in 1993 to the Pinochets on their golden wedding anniversary:
'Your Excellency,
The Holy Father has been informed of the forthcoming family celebration to mark your 50th anniversary and has asked me to send you and your distinguished spouse the pontifical autograph enclosed herewith as an expression of his particular benevolence.
His Holiness cherishes moving memories of the meeting he had with members of your family on the occasion of his extraordinary pastoral visit to Chile and reiterates his best wishes for peace and happiness. He trusts to the Lord your home and family where mutual love and trust in God's grace reign.
I would like to take this opportunity of expressing once again the highest esteem in which I hold your Excellency.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano'
(John Paul II's hand written enclosure:)
'It is with great pleasure that, on the occasion of their golden wedding, I bestow upon General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, his wife Senora Lucia Hiriart de Pinochet, their children and grandchildren, a special apostolic blessing as a token of abundant divine graces.
John Paul II'
John Paul II bows to Pinochet 1987
Five Popes Text (.DOC with the above text 12 kB)
Five Popes Oil on linnen (JPG 2780x1876 Pixels 597 kB)
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