Saturday, May 26, 2012

German Jesuit And Pigs

Schweine am Kreuz: Anzinger-Ausstellung
Father Friedhelm Mennekes SJ, founder and long-time director of the Art Station Sankt Peter has also commented to the newspaper about the cancelling of the exhibition. He pointed to the rich tradition of the crucifixion motif, to the derision that Christianity once had suffered through the representation of a crucified donkey, and also to the "Jewish pig" in Cologne Cathedral. All these elements played into Anzingers work- he himself had exhibited a butterfly crucified by Markus Lüpertz in St. Peter's. "I hope that the cancellation was not a case of anticipatory obedience to ecclesiastical authority," said Mennekes in conclusion. (Cathcon- no wonder the Jesuits are the worst hit of the orders after the Council. They were set up on army lines by St Ignatius with a specific oath of obedience to the Pope. Now they are a bunch of ecclesiastical anarchists no longer of capable of fighting)  It is precisely this fear Guido Schlimbach tried to dispel when talking to the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" . The Art Station is after all not an art hall, but a house of God: "We derive life from the whole life of the community." A crucified pig in oil next to a crucifix is not easy in this context - and as Anzinger totally refused to compromise, the cancellation could not be avoided. "I'm sure," said Schlimbach, "Mennekes would not have put on the exhibition." (Cathcon- see his comments above which go in the opposite direction.)
Read the whole story at Catholic Church Conservation (here)

2 comments:

Maria said...

FORMULA INSTITUTI
The Purpose of the Society

"for every member of the Society of Jesus “sub crucis vexillo Deo militare, et soli Domino ac
Ecclesiae Ipsius sponsae, sub Romano Pontifice, Christi in terris Vicario, servire (UNDER THE BANNER OF THE CROSS TO BE A SOLDIER FOR GOD, and TO SERVE THE LORD ALONE AND HIS SPOUSE THE CHURCH UNDER THE ROMAN PONTIFF, THE VICAR OF CHRIST ON EARTH),” IN ORDER TO COMMIT ONESELF “potissimum…ad fidei defensionem et propagationem, et profectum animarum in vita et doctrina christiana, per publicas praedicationes, lectiones et aliud quodcumqueverbi Dei ministerium... (CHIEFLY . . . TO THE DEFENSE OF THE FAITH AND THE PROPOGATION OF THE FAITH, AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SOULS IN CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DOCTRINE THROUGH PUBLIC PREACHING, TEACHINGS, AND WHATEVER OTHER MINISTRY OF THE WORD OF GOD)”.

Deo militare? Fight for God? Now, they fight on the side of the of the Enemy. The miracle is that anyone is still a Catholic.

Maria said...

NB Should read: to the defense and propagation of the faith