OK, so what you're about to see below is a depiction of a common scene in Christian art; our Lord Jesus expiring on the cross with two people below Him. Typically, those people represented under the cross are our Blessed Mother and St. John the Apostle. As you can tell, both figures here are men and wearing clothing outside the period. Who do you think these two men are? What are they holding? Why are they being depicted here? After the jump, I will present another image which is depicting the same event (not the Crucifixion), yet with a completely different attitude and meaning. You'll soon see why these two images I speak of need to be juxtaposed together...
The second picture can be found below. It may be a bit easier to discern what is going on this picture, but let's roll with it for a moment. Who do you think these men are? What are they holding? Why are they being depicted in this way?
Well, if you can read Latin, or have somewhat decent powers of deduction, you have by now surmised that both of these images depict the Reformation as it's 500th anniversary is celebrated and commemorated. What I find a bit dismaying, though, is that only one of these images was commissioned by a Vatican entity. The other was a private painting. Both were created this year. As it turns out, the Vatican’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office commissioned and released the first picture, as it does for all postage stamps from the Vatican post office. It depicts our Lord Jesus with none other than Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon replacing the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Apostle. The press release, which seems to cherry pick various phrases from Pope Francis out of their proper context, that accompanied the stamp's reveal talks about the image itself more in depth:
The postage stamp issued by the Philatelic Office for the occasion depicts in the foreground Jesus crucified and in the background a golden and timeless view of the city of Wittenberg. With a penitential disposition, kneeling respectively on the left and right of the cross, Martin Luther holds the Bible, source and destination of his doctrine, while Philipp Melanchthon, theologian and friend of Martin Luther, one of the main protagonists of the reform, holds in hand the Augsburg Confession (Confessio Augustana), the first official public presentation of the principles of Protestantism written by him.When I first laid eyes on this stamp, I thought it was a bit disturbing to see our Lady and St. John replaced by two men who contributed mightily to the fracturing of Christianity. Not only were these men disobedient to Holy Mother Church, not only were vows broken, but they fully admitted that they were in schism with the Church. As Luther himself admitted:
"We, through God’s grace, are not heretics, but schismatics, causing, indeed, separation and division, wherein we are not to blame, but our adversaries, who gave occasion thereto, because they remain not by God’s word alone, which we have, hear, and follow."Of course, he blamed Jesus' spotless Bride for him becoming a schismatic. This is shameful, and I have to admit here, it boggles my mind that he and Melanchthon are being emblazoned on a Vatican postage stamp. One would think that there are many other better people that could be depicted on these stamps; men and women that fought for reform in the Church without leaving her.
To be fair, the Philatelic Office has also released a stamp featuring one of the great men of the Catholic Reformation, St. Francis de Sales during this commemoration of the Reformation's fifth centenary. Still, I find it very disconcerting that this stamp appears to portray Melanchthon as offering the Augsburg Confessions to our Lord Jesus. One would think, if he were really coming before Jesus Christ "with a penitential disposition", he would discard the Confessions or destroy them. What I also don't like about the painting's description is that it is asserted that Luther's "source and destination of his doctrine" comes from the Bible. It would be more accurate to say, that a significant part of it is indeed a distortion of the Gospel, but many others have gone into more detail about that than I can here.
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| St. Francis de Sales |
It's a bit farcical to say that Luther and Melanchthon are kneeling respectively, because in all honesty, what they did to contribute to the discord in the Mystical Body of Christ was a slap in the face to our Lord Jesus, and to His Bride, our Holy Mother Church. How can one truly be respectful to our Lord if they reject the Church? And by reject, I mean to the degree that Luther, Melanchthon, Calvin and others did. Their vitriol toward the Catholic Church was, at times, absolutely horrendous. Their disposition, as they had directly broke with the Church, is fundamentally different from any Protestant that was born into their respective religion.
I do realize that in the stamp's press release, Pope Francis is quoted as saying “that the past cannot be changed. Yet today...it is possible to engage in a purification of memory..." Indeed, we should definitely focus on what we hold in common, because Lutherans and Catholics do hold a lot in common. However, our purification of memory will not allows us to forget the strife that such a break with the Church caused. This leads me to the second picture I had posted above.
The painting is by Italian artist Giovanni Gasparro, and is entitled "St Pius V and St. Charles Borromeo defending Catholicism against Islam and the Protestant Heresy". It really is a beautiful painting; a testament to the fact that not all contemporary Catholic art looks minimalist. There's a lot going on in this picture. We see what appears to be the hand of Mary (or God Himself) giving the rosary to Pope St. Pius V, whose encouragement to pray the rosary led to the Christian defeat of the Muslim invasion force during the Battle of Lepanto, as can be seen by the practitioner of Islam below him. St. Charles Borromeo, a cardinal-bishop and one of the greatest figures of the Catholic Reformation, has his gaze towards Luther. What may either be Luther's 95 theses or his 41 propositions as condemned by Pope Leo X in 1520, are shown burning above Luther. Notice the sorrowful face not only on St. Charles, but also on the angel in the middle of the two saints. It's as if he's saying, "No! Martin! What have you done?! Come back to our Lord! Come back to His Church! We don't want you to be separated from our Lord!"
But notice the title. Catholicism was defended by those two saints; it was not defended bu Luther and Melanchthon. I have to admit, I have grown a bit tired of hearing Luther praised by so many. Not too long ago, the secretary-general of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Bishop Nunzio Galantino, reportedly praised Luther's role in the Reformation, saying, "The Reformation carried out by Martin Luther 500 years ago was an event of the Holy Spirit." Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, set the record straight following these comments in an essay for an Italian newspaper. Correcting Bishop Galantino, Cardinal Müller said the following regarding Luther's ideas and actions:
I thank God for bishops like Cardinal Müller, who are not afraid to stand up to this white washing of history we are seeing. I whole heartedly admit that Catholics ahve gotten a lot wrong about Luther. This is why I'm hesitant to see the burning papers above Luther as the 95 theses, for example. Once we peel back the layers we can see that the 95 theses were written by a Luther who legitimately did not want to leave the Church; he wanted to reform evil practices that were happening due to certain men in the Church. The 95 theses "were neither pro-Protestant nor anti-Catholic. There was nothing in them about sola scriptura, justification by faith alone, or church tradition."
However, his ego and scrupulosity got the best of him, and he is not remembered as a saint alongside St. Charles or St. Ignatius of Loyola. But at the same time, Cardinal Müller reminds us in his article that "nor is it correct to assert that Luther initially had good intentions, meaning that the Church's rigid attitude was [what was] to push him on the wrong path. It is not true: Luther was intent on fighting trade in indulgences, but the goal was not indulgence as such but an element of the sacrament of Penance." He did not want to leave the Church initially, but even at the beginning of his public defiance, not all of his intentions were good. We must remember history. We must read the documents that came out around this time to really see what was going on. Not everything was as bad as it has been made to seem, but neither was everything regarding the origins of the Protestant Reformation as good as modern pundits would have us think.
It saddens me that Luther's break with the Bride of Christ had to be commemorated in this way by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office. I think that Gasparro's painting is something we should reflect on more instead of the image seen on the postage stamp. I truly hope for full reconciliation between our two faiths one day. I hope that one day, a Lutheran Ordinariate, in the model of the Anglican Ordinariate, will be a reality! But until then, sweeping our differences under the rug in the name of ecumenism helps no one. We must be honest with ourselves, and fully realize ecumenism by having all Protestant religions come back to the loving arms of Holy Mother Church.
I do realize that in the stamp's press release, Pope Francis is quoted as saying “that the past cannot be changed. Yet today...it is possible to engage in a purification of memory..." Indeed, we should definitely focus on what we hold in common, because Lutherans and Catholics do hold a lot in common. However, our purification of memory will not allows us to forget the strife that such a break with the Church caused. This leads me to the second picture I had posted above.
The painting is by Italian artist Giovanni Gasparro, and is entitled "St Pius V and St. Charles Borromeo defending Catholicism against Islam and the Protestant Heresy". It really is a beautiful painting; a testament to the fact that not all contemporary Catholic art looks minimalist. There's a lot going on in this picture. We see what appears to be the hand of Mary (or God Himself) giving the rosary to Pope St. Pius V, whose encouragement to pray the rosary led to the Christian defeat of the Muslim invasion force during the Battle of Lepanto, as can be seen by the practitioner of Islam below him. St. Charles Borromeo, a cardinal-bishop and one of the greatest figures of the Catholic Reformation, has his gaze towards Luther. What may either be Luther's 95 theses or his 41 propositions as condemned by Pope Leo X in 1520, are shown burning above Luther. Notice the sorrowful face not only on St. Charles, but also on the angel in the middle of the two saints. It's as if he's saying, "No! Martin! What have you done?! Come back to our Lord! Come back to His Church! We don't want you to be separated from our Lord!"
But notice the title. Catholicism was defended by those two saints; it was not defended bu Luther and Melanchthon. I have to admit, I have grown a bit tired of hearing Luther praised by so many. Not too long ago, the secretary-general of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Bishop Nunzio Galantino, reportedly praised Luther's role in the Reformation, saying, "The Reformation carried out by Martin Luther 500 years ago was an event of the Holy Spirit." Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, set the record straight following these comments in an essay for an Italian newspaper. Correcting Bishop Galantino, Cardinal Müller said the following regarding Luther's ideas and actions:
"...it must be made clear that from the point of view of dogmatic theology, from the point of view of the doctrine of the Church, this was not at all a reform but a revolution, that is, a total change of the foundations of the Catholic faith.It is not realistic to argue that [Luther's] intention was to fight against some abuses of indulgences or the sins of the Renaissance Church. Abuses and bad actions have always existed in the Church, not just in the Renaissance; and even today they exist. We are the holy Church because of the grace of God and the sacraments; but all men of the Church are sinners, all need forgiveness, contrition and penance...
"There are so many voices that speak too enthusiastically of Luther, not knowing exactly his theology, his controversy and the disastrous effects of this movement that has represented the destruction of the unity of millions of Christians with the Catholic Church... It is therefore unacceptable to affirm that Luther's reform 'was an event of the Holy Spirit .' On the contrary, it was against the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit helps the Church to maintain its continuity through the Church's Magisterium, above all in the ministry of Peter: on Peter [had] Jesus founded His Church (Mt. 16:18)" (emphasis in original)
However, his ego and scrupulosity got the best of him, and he is not remembered as a saint alongside St. Charles or St. Ignatius of Loyola. But at the same time, Cardinal Müller reminds us in his article that "nor is it correct to assert that Luther initially had good intentions, meaning that the Church's rigid attitude was [what was] to push him on the wrong path. It is not true: Luther was intent on fighting trade in indulgences, but the goal was not indulgence as such but an element of the sacrament of Penance." He did not want to leave the Church initially, but even at the beginning of his public defiance, not all of his intentions were good. We must remember history. We must read the documents that came out around this time to really see what was going on. Not everything was as bad as it has been made to seem, but neither was everything regarding the origins of the Protestant Reformation as good as modern pundits would have us think.
It saddens me that Luther's break with the Bride of Christ had to be commemorated in this way by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office. I think that Gasparro's painting is something we should reflect on more instead of the image seen on the postage stamp. I truly hope for full reconciliation between our two faiths one day. I hope that one day, a Lutheran Ordinariate, in the model of the Anglican Ordinariate, will be a reality! But until then, sweeping our differences under the rug in the name of ecumenism helps no one. We must be honest with ourselves, and fully realize ecumenism by having all Protestant religions come back to the loving arms of Holy Mother Church.
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