Italian Judge Upholds Blasphemy Case Against Archbishop, Painter of Sacrilegious Exhibit

It's about time that one of these anti-Catholic wolves posing as our "shepherds" is held accountable for their blatant blasphemy! Good on the judge!

From LifeSiteNews

By Dorothy Cummings McLean

Modena Archbishop Erio Castellucci, painter Andrea Saltini, Father Don Carlo Bellini and a laywoman were charged with contempt under the Italian penal code for vilifying a religion in a place of worship or in a public place through insulting objects.

Editor’s note: WARNING – The details of this article are disturbing and scandalizing. LifeSiteNews has chosen not to publish any of the images described.

An Italian judge refused to dismiss a case brought against the Archbishop of Modena for outraging the religious feelings of a group of faithful Catholics.

Dr. Andrea Scarpa, the judge for Preliminary Investigations (GIP) of the Court of Modena, announced today (Wednesday) that he has not granted the request for dismissal made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in a case that pitted local Catholics against their bishop. The scandal involves a blasphemous art exhibition in the museum church of St. Ignatius in the town of Carpi. The exhibit, called “Gratia Plena,” left the archbishop, who both permitted and defended it, its creator, and its two curators open to charges of insulting religious feelings, a crime in Italy.

According to Radio Spada, Modena Archbishop Erio Castellucci (who is also the Bishop of Carpi), painter Andrea Saltini, Father Don Carlo Bellini and a laywoman, Cristiana Muccioli, have all been charged with “contempt” under Article 403 of the Italian penal code. Article 404 stipulates that whoever vilifies a religion in a place of worship or in a public place through insulting objects of worship may be fined. There will be a hearing to discuss the case on January 20, 2025.

RELATED: Italian bishop defends ‘blasphemous’ art work despite thousands of complaints from scandalised Catholics

According to Radio Spada, the four are represented by attorney Flavia Zuddio. The faithful Catholics who object to the canvasses, which include a painting of the crucified Christ being sexually assaulted after His deposition, are represented by lawyer Francesco Minutillo.

Minutillo exulted that it will finally be possible to argue the case, which began in March, before a judge.

“We will finally have a judge before whom we can bring out the truth about the blasphemous contents of the exhibition held in the Church of Carpi,” he said in a press release. “The Public Prosecutor’s Office conducted an investigation that we consider insufficient, and, for this reason, we requested numerous in-depth investigations …”

Minutillo also reported that his team had asked for records related to a knife attack on Saltini and his most notorious painting. On March 28, a masked man entered the church and then slashed and spray-painted the canvas depicting the naked Christ. When the painter tried to intervene, the critic cut his neck before escaping. According to Italian media, Saltini received four stitches at a hospital and was then released. The attacker’s identity is still unknown.

Other paintings that the faithful have found offensive include a deposition (erroneously entitled “Ascension” by the artist) of Christ in which He is half-clad in a sparkling green jumpsuit and those carrying Him wearing only underpants; a triptych of the Blessed Virgin Mary being stripped by Pharisees who want proof of her virginity, and a painting of an almost naked Mary Magdalene cradling an apparently dying man in a loincloth; this last is called “Noli Me Tangere.”

As LifeSiteNews reported in March, Archbishop Castellucci defended the exhibit. An official statement of the Diocese of Carpi, dated March 2, denied that any of the images were blasphemous or sacrilegious and went so far as to quote from St. Paul’s letter to Titus, “Everything is pure for the pure.”

The exhibition was set to run from March 2 until June 2.

Episcopal sanction for artwork that deeply offends faithful Catholics is not confined to Italy. Austrian Catholics have suffered much of late from sacrilegious depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, depictions of homosexuals acts, and blasphemous representations of Christ and His Sacred Heart.