Blasphemy Case Against Italian Archbishop Dismissed
The case centered on a controversial painting titled Longinus that was on display in the church of Sant'Ignazio, which houses the Diocesan Museum of Carpi. The artwork appeared to depict a Roman centurion engaged in a perverse act with Christ or his corpse.
Judge Scarpa described the piece as "ambiguous and provocative, but not offensive". He emphasized that it was not the court's place to judge the work's artistic merit or to weigh in on "internal divisions within the Church between traditionalists and progressives".
Citing the ambiguity of the painting, the judge concluded that there was no clear intent to offend the Catholic faith, making a charge of blasphemy untenable. He also noted that the Church of Sant'Ignazio, although it is a consecrated church, functions in practice as a civic cultural space.
Rather than aligning with the faithful, Archbishop Castellucci chose to support the blasphemy, the artist and the exhibition’s curator, Don Carlo Bellini.
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