THIS cross, which was designed by the Italian sculptor Lello Scorzelli, has been carried by six popes: Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVII and now Francis I. At Tradition in Action, Marion T. Horvat examines the history and meaning of the cross, with its contorted, grotesquely emaciated body and claw-like hands. Admirers of the cross say it conveys the suffering of Christ. It would be more accurate to say it conveys meaninglessness, animal resignation and despair. The cross was first used at the closing of Vatican II in 1965, a fitting end to an event that did so much to drain the sense of the sacred from the world. It is reasonable to argue that in Vatican II, Christ underwent a second crucifixion. But it didn’t look like this. He will rise again from the tomb of the Revolution.

— Comments —

Bill R. writes:

It reminds me of the kind of caricatures you see in newspaper cartoons.

Jewel A. writes:

That cross is perhaps one of the ugliest, most blasphemous things I have ever seen, and beholding the rot of modernist corruption in the Church, it doesn’t surprise me that it was born as a post Vatican II monstrosity. But the destruction of the good, the true and the beautiful doesn’t end there: Fix your eyes upon these architectural nightmares posted at Rorate Cæli.

I note – as my jaw drops to the floor – that the last piece of architectural ego worship has Christ floating, pain-free in mid-air, without a cross. Who needs a cross in these churches, when they are nothing more than mirrors reflecting the dark and evil days in which we are living? Sin? What’s that?

Laura writes:

The post at Rorate Cæli highlights the winners of a national competition for sacred architecture in Italy. Here are some below. All of them are proposed designs for Italian parishes.

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