Catholics are debating whether to remove the paintings of a priest accused of abusing women – but we should always not confuse artists and art, writes an art historian

Marko Rupnik, a Catholic priest, was expelled from the Jesuit order because he had allegedly abused women. He was later accepted to the diocese in his native Slovenia. Rupnik can also be an artist and his works are on display in churches in Lourdes, Rome and Washington, DC, amongst others.

Some of those pages are plan, cover or remove Rupnik's art; some parishioners and clergy I don’t agree with such actionsThe Vatican’s communications chief, Paolo Ruffini, for instance has defended the choice of the Holy See, Rupnik's art on his department's website.

As Art historianI ask whether the controversy misses the core of the problem.

A bridge between Eastern and Western European traditions

Rupnik's art has been recognized prior to now as a part of the Catholic Church's efforts to attach Eastern and Western European faith traditions. With his Slovenian ancestry, Rupnik was in a position to create images that combined each traditions. He was chosen in 1996 to Decorate three of the 4 partitions the Redemptoris Mater Chapel of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City with art symbolizing unity between the churches.

In 2016, Rupnik designed the brand for the Year of Mercya special spiritual anniversary proclaimed by Pope Francis. In depicting Christ, Rupnik was inspired by the Eastern tradition of the “anastasis” or resurrection, by which Christ is claimed to have freed the souls of the dead.

Rupnik based his painting on a thematically similar 14th century fresco within the Chora Church in IstanbulHe depicted Christ in a white robe, surrounded by an almond-shaped halo of sunshine. He placed Adam over Christ's shoulders, a motif that was inspired by early Christian images of Christ because the Good Shepherd.

His work also reflected other historical precedents. The faces of Christ and Adam were pressed together and so they shared a watch to symbolize that Adam and Christ each shared a human nature. The Motif of the common eyes as a logo for the one divine nature the Christian Trinity appears in Renaissance art.

He was also commissioned to create the mosaics that decorate the National Shrine of St. John Paul II. in Washington, DC

Personal morality and artistic production

Many revered artworks were created by intellectually deficient creators. Raphael, whose frescoes, akin to “The School of Athens”, decorate the Hall of Segnatura within the Vatican,
allegedly had many mistresses. Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio lived a brief and violent lifeHe killed a person in a fight, and the person was sentenced to death for murder. Nevertheless, lots of his paintings are considered to be profound expressions of religion.

Caravaggio's “Burial of Christ”, one among the Vatican’s biggest treasures, shows the grief of Christ’s followers. The “Our Lady of Loreto”, within the church of Sant'Agostino in Rome, has long been admired for its ability to bring the divine into on a regular basis life. Thin, round halos hover behind the heads of the Virgin and Child, who otherwise seem like unusual people, resembling the 2 barefoot peasants kneeling before them. When the painting was unveiled in 1606, some were dismayed at the dearth of dignity that got here with the depiction of the Virgin and her divine child as easy people.

When I visited Sant'Agostino in 2009, I saw dozens of individuals taking a look at the painting. The spectators invariably stood near the farmer's feet, showing that they might in some way relate to the couple's devotion. For over an hour, I used to be reminded of the ability of art, irrespective of where it got here from.

Artists – and all people – are inevitably flawed; once an artist's work is accomplished, I imagine it’s independent of its creator.

In my view, condemning art as an alternative of discussing how the Catholic Church could allow an individual accused of abuse to flee reprimand for thus long is, at best, a diversionary tactic.