News round-up: Papal plots, David Shrigley & Nick Cave

Today's Guardian asks why are there so many papal plots in fiction? From Dan Brown to Graham Greene, the papacy has long proved fascinating to writers so Mark Lawson examines the mysteries around this powerful figure and the church he leads. He identifies the work of Morris West as particularly prescient:

'West’s novels have an astonishing record of prophecy. The Shoes of the Fisherman was published on the day that John XIII died, and imagined an eastern European anti-Soviet cardinal ending the long line of Italian popes, which duly happened in 1978, when Cardinal Wotyla of Kraków became John Paul II. The unlikely plot of The Clowns of God (1981), in which a pope resigns because he can no longer face the burdens of office, was validated in February 2013 by the retirement of Benedict XVI. In West’s final conclave novel, Eminence (1998), the leading candidate to become pope, a Latin American radical called Cardinal Luca Rossini, now reads as a spooky preview of the Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio becoming Pope Francis.'
Lawson writes on the coincidence of the publication of Conclave this month with The Young Pope starting on Sky Atlantic in October and Doctor Faustus being at the Barbican.

'In two weeks, David Shrigley’s new sculpture will be unveiled on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. At first sight it looks like a work that needs no artspeak to explain its meaning. It’s a giant thumbs-up, cast in bronze. And who doesn’t understand that? Just in case there’s any doubt, Shrigley has titled the piece Really Good. He’s even made the thumb extra long, to emphasise the “really”.' He was interviewed by Marcus Field for the Evening Standard:

'Faith is an occasional theme, although Shrigley treads gently here. His parents are Christians, his mother an Anglican, his father an Evangelical. Shrigley himself went to church until he was 16 “and then I did sociology A-level and I stopped”.

He still has a lot of time for the principles, though. “I’m a sympathiser,” he tells me. “I think if you remove the aspects to do with gender and homosexuality, if you take that out of all the main religions, then I would say that if people lived by their central tenets — love thy neighbour, altruism, compassion, kindness — then the world would probably be a better place. And I think it’s wrong to separate Christianity from politics. What would Jesus do? Well, he certainly wouldn’t vote Conservative. He certainly wouldn’t dismantle the NHS.”'

Alexis Petridis has written an excellent review of Nick Cave's new album Skeleton Tree which scotches the idea that the album is about the death of Cave's son. Petridis concludes, this is 'an album that is no less brilliant, but perhaps less straightforward, than initial reactions suggested: not so much an exploration of grief as an example of how grief overwhelms or seeps into everything – a subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless.'

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Nick Cave - I Need You.

An Artist and the Saint: Manzù and Roncalli

Angelo Roncalli turned 'his four and a half year pontificate into one of the most important of the 20th century and earned legions of admirers as the down-to-earth "Good Pope John".'

The Guardian reports that, 'On Sunday, before a crowd of hundreds of thousands in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis is to canonise this popular Italian pontiff alongside John Paul II, recognising them both as saints.'

'Often described simply as Il Papa Buona, the friendly pontiff who went walking around Rome and endeared himself to ordinary people in much the same way as Francis today, John XXIII is regarded by his admirers as one of the most courageous and important popes in history. Roncalli, who had spent much of his career as a Vatican diplomat in countries including Bulgaria, Turkey and France, called the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) in 1962 and died less than a year later. But the process of change he set in motion outlived him, proving key to the church's ability to retain a degree of relevance in the modern age.'

In a piece of serendipity I am currently reading An Artist and the Pope by Curtis Bill Pepper. The artist and Pope in question 'both came from Bergamo in Italy but there the affinity seemed to halt, for one was the beloved Pope John XXIII and the other was a Communist bereft of his religious faith was the famous sculptor Giacomo Manzù. Yet Pope John, discerning the man beyond the atheist, commissioned Manzù to make his portrait bust, and despite all the artist's misgivings, there developed between them a warm and deeply significant friendship which drove Manzù to achieve the remarkable bronze Doors of Death for St. Peter's in Rome - the first new doors for the cathedral for 500 years.'

The door 'has large modelled panels that depict the deaths of Mary and Christ, as well as lesser panels that show the deaths of saints and ordinary people.  Vatican officials were wary of Manzù’s communist politics and criticized his refusal to temper his unflinching depiction of death and human suffering with a more spiritual theme. Particularly shocking was his depiction of a cardinal looking at a man being crucified up side-down, a reference to the execution of fascists after WWII.'

Commissioning Manzù is an example of the policy advocated in France by Marie-Alain Couturier and Pie-Raymond Régamey and in Austria by Otto Mauer of seeking to revive Christian art by appealing to the independent masters of the time. The book is a fascinating expose of the difficulties encountered, even at the very heart of the Roman Catholic Church and despite the significant support of Pope John, Don Giuseppe de Luca and Monsignor Loris Capovilla, in pursuing this policy.

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Sixpence None The Richer - Amazing Grace.

New Cosmopolitanism and Just Love

The global expansion in migration means large cities like London are becoming home to new waves of migrants. This change has instigated new ideas about social interaction, religion and cultural identity. In October, the Contextual Theology Centre will be partnering with the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies to host an interdisciplinary conference sponsored by the Contending Modernities project.

The New Cosmopolitanism is a conference considering global migration and the building of a common life which will be held on 14/15 October.  The conference, which grows out of CTC's work in East London, offers:

… a fresh look at a question that is dominating the headlines – how the diverse groups that globalisation brings together can discern and promote a truly “common good”;
… an opportunity to respond to the increasing focus on these issues from Pope Francis, which is catching the imagination of those far outside the Church; and
… a unique blend of academic rigour and on-the-ground engagement, funded by one of the world’s premier Catholic Universities.

CTC are also preparing a new resource for Lent 2014. Angus Ritchie and Paul Hackwood (Chair of the Church Urban Fund) are currently writing Just Love: Personal and Social Transformation in Christ which will use the Gospel readings for each Sunday Lent to explore how Jesus loved, and why this love led him to the cross.

It will draw out the implications of his transforming love – both for our individual lives and for our social and economic order.  Drawing on decades of inner-city ministry, the authors aim to show that “Christ-like love” is more than a compelling idea.  It is a powerful reality, enabling people to live out God’s just love in the most challenging of neighbourhoods.

Just Love will be written accessible language, with testimony from lay and ordained Christians already involved in social action.  Written for both individual devotion and study groups, it will include specific, realistic suggestions for prayer, reflection and action.  It will be written for use by individuals and study groups.

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Aretha Franklin - (To Be) Young, Gifted And Black.

William Congdon - The Sabbath of History

This comes from the latest ImageUpdate:

"If you are going to be anywhere in the vicinity of New Haven, Connecticut between now and September 16, you owe it to yourself to get to the Knights of Columbus Museum. The goal of your visit is an art exhibition of paintings by William Congdon, accompanied by excerpts from "Meditations on Holy Week" written many years ago by Joseph Ratzinger (now known as Benedict XVI).

There is an utterly fascinating story behind this show. Though he is all but forgotten now, Congdon was one of the rising stars of the art world in the mid-twentieth century, associated with Abstract Expressionism and the action painting of Jackson Pollock. To quote the exhibition materials: "His first one-man show, at the Betty Parsons Gallery in 1949, was lauded by reigning art critic Clement Greenberg who credited his paintings with having 'real painterly emotion.' In 1951, he was profiled in LIFE magazine and heralded as 'A Remarkable New U.S. Painter.'" Then he more or less disappeared from the art scene.

What happened? Among other things, Congdon moved to Italy, converted to Catholicism, and joined the Catholic lay movement, Communion and Liberation. Though he abandoned the art world, Congdon continued to paint—and his conversion did not induce him to abandon his cutting-edge style. His semi-abstract paintings were often crafted with an impasto knife, a method that created dramatic gestures and incised expressive lines within the work. His early subjects were largely urban and conveyed a sense of modern alienation and isolation, but after his conversion he turned increasingly to landscapes and religious subjects.
Congdon's rendering of traditional biblical scenes was always probing and creative, never falling back on cliché or sentimentality. The pairing of his works with texts by Ratzinger makes sense for a number of reasons, including Ratzinger's close friendship with the founder of Communion and Liberation, Luigi Giussani.

IMAGE published an essay on Congdon's work by art critic Peter Selz way back in issue 14, which we've put in its entirety on our website. This is an artist whose reputation deserves to be much greater than it is, so please spread the word.

Learn more about the exhibition here. Read Peter Selz's essay from IMAGE issue 14 here. Visit the Congdon Foundation website here."

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Jan Gaberak and the Hilliard Ensemble - Parce Mihi Domine.

Where is God today?

People often ask, ‘Where is God today?’ That was a question asked by CBC, Radio-Canada, of their listeners in 2008. In introducing the series, they said that “For many Canadians, religion exists far beyond the walls of a church, synagogue or mosque. Faith can play a vital role in how we work, study, and interact with family and friends. But for many others, God has little or no presence.” So they asked their listeners, “Does religion play a large part in your day-to-day life? Or is God to be found elsewhere … or nowhere at all?” You can imagine the range of answers that their listeners provided but I don’t want to focus on those tonight, instead I want us to consider how this story answers that same question, ‘Where is God today?’

The answer is not one that we necessarily expect or readily accept:

“I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.”

“Today, we see the face of the suffering Christ in the experience of every person who suffers from poverty or cries out for help. Christ lives among us still, sharing the pain of our destitute brothers and sisters.” (http://www.foodforthepoor.org/prayer/stations/)

As Pastor James, of the wonderfully named First Baptist Peddie Memorial Church of Newark, New Jersey, has written (http://www.peddiechurch.org/Articles/Ministry_with_the_Homeless.htm):

“He is found in the least looked for places, in the abandoned corners of society. He is present with the least, the poorest of the poor, and the most despised. He dwells with the homeless. It's not that Christ is absent from the rich and the powerful, but that He chooses the least to make His presence most fully known to the world. It is not that He rejects refined vessels, but that He chooses broken and abandoned vessels to dwell in so that His glory may be revealed in the lowliest places. As the Apostle Paul says, "God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him" (1 Cor. 1:28-29).”

Similarly, Bishop Edward J. Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma wrote, in an article about immigration:

"The suffering faces of the poor are the suffering faces of Christ." (Pope Benedict XVI, Aparecida, Brazil, August 2007). Whatever has to do with Christ has to do with the poor and whatever concerns the poor refers back to Jesus Christ: 'Whatever you did to one of these, the least of my brothers, that you did unto me' (Matthew 25:40).

"In the pain of the poor and the dispossessed, in the fear of the immigrant and those unjustly accused, we see reflected the suffering of our Crucified Lord, Who reminds us that ultimately we will be judged on the compassion and charity which we show them." For I was hungry," He will tell us, "but you gave Me no food; alone or a stranger or in prison, but you could not be bothered with me" (cf. Matthew 25:42-43).”

So, we are called to show compassion on the poor, the homeless, and those who are migrants because it is in them that Jesus is seen. But the understanding that Jesus is found today in those who suffer goes deeper than simply charity towards those who are worse off than ourselves. Again, as Pastor James writes:

“Often, we interpret this parable primarily as ethics - giving aid to the needy and helping the lost. Our charity to these needy people is of such a noble quality that it is as if we are doing it to Christ. From this perspective, the needy are merely the objects of our charity.

However, I believe that this parable goes beyond such a patronizing interpretation. It is not merely about assisting the needy. It is ultimately about where Christ is and where His Spirit dwells. So when we feed the hungry, we are faced with a deeper reality beneath the surface. In bringing the food, we see not only the face of the hungry but also the face of Christ who is already there with them. We see the face of Christ in the face of a teenage boy recovering from drug addiction, in the sorrow-ridden face of a homeless woman who is also mentally ill, and in the wrinkled face of an old man left to the streets with no family. They are the very temple in which the Spirit of Christ dwells. They minister to us through Christ who dwells in them.”

It is to this that we are called and it is into this way of understanding life that we are entering when we are baptised. In this story, Jesus turns our ‘normal’ perceptions of life upside down; those who are normally looked down on and treated with condescension are those in whom God is to be found. This has massive implications for our attitudes, relationships, giving, ethics and politics. But, again, it is what baptism is all about. In baptism we put to death our old way of life as we go under the water and come alive to a new and different way of life as we rise up out of the water. So baptism is not simply about me and my salvation; instead it is about me changing for the sake of others so that I see Christ in others and serve Christ in others.  

In order that that may be so, we need to pray the prayer of Mother Teresa: Dearest Lord, may I see You today and every day in the person of Your sick, and, whilst nursing them, minister unto You. Though You hide Yourself behind the unattractive disguise of the irritable, the exacting, the unreasonable, may I still recognize You, and say: "Jesus, my patient, how sweet it is to serve You.”

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Rickie Lee Jones - Where I Like It Best.

The Madness of Peter Howson

The Madness of Peter Howson is on BBC Four on Thursday at 9.00pm:

"Peter Howson is one of the world's most collected living artists, his work hanging on the walls of galleries and museums and in the homes of rock stars and actors. In 2008 he received the biggest commission of his career - to paint the largest-ever crowd scene in the history of British art - but the commission is fraught with so much difficulty its completion is in jeopardy from day one.

This film follows Peter over two difficult years, a journey that took him to the brink of bankruptcy, and also to the edge of his sanity."

The background story of this commission to produce a depiction of the scene of St John Ogilvie's martyrdom to mark the planned renovation of St Andrew's, the mother church of Scottish Catholicism, for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI can be found by clicking here and here. 
 
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Deacon Blue - Hang Your Head.

Olympic Village site visit

The Velodrome

Stadium entrance

The Aquatics Centre

The Aquatics Centre

View towards Docklands

Waiting for the bus

Entering the site

The International Broadcast Centre / Main Press Centre

Olympic Stadium

Olympic Village

Today I was part of the visit to the Olympic Village site organised by the London & South East Region of the Industrial Mission Association. We met in Stratford to join the bus and, led by our informative tour guide Victoria, were taken on an hour-long journey around the whole site.

After our visit we went to St Pauls Stratford, where Revd. Kevin Woolmer is Chaplain to the Construction Workers for the New Stratford City Shopping Centre and the Construction Workforce of the London 2012 Olympics. There we were led in a theological reflection on our visit by Fr. Dermot Tredget of Douai Abbey.

We thought initially about the complexity of relations between the large number of stakeholders involved and the difficulty of ensuring that all stakeholders can properly be heard.

We looked at several biblical texts (1 Corinthians 9. 24-27, 2 Timothy 2. 5, 2 Timothy 4. 7, and Hebrews 12. 1) which helped us reflect on the pressure that the organisers and athletes are under to succeed. Several of these passages, although not all, commend competing and completing as more important than winning and one commends competing within the rules (particularly relevant in the light of bloodgate and the recent football fines and bans on clubs and players perceived to have cheated).

We noted that, in her article A Hymn to Life: The Sports Theology of Pope John Paul II, Connie Lasher writes that, "Pope John Paul II speaks of sport as a school of human virtue that ennobles the individual and becomes a vehicle of friendship and social interaction on the part of athletes and spectators." Sport has the potential to enrich and develop people but can bring perils as well as promises.

Small group discussions then resulted in the following reflections:

• the Olympics is elitist and the poor won't be there (e.g. no cheap tickets for locals);
• the legacy should be the priority and a part of this could include community organising to ensure that the community is recognised and heard as a stakeholder;
• the chaplain's role is a prophetic speaking to the structures of the organisations involved as much as it is pastoral with those working in the organisations;
• chaplaincy involves continual negotiation as the parameters within which they work constantly change on a huge project such as this;
• effective pastoral work among workers generates a feed upwards so that, for example, one construction company specifically sought out the chaplain to arrange specific dates and times for visits to their site as a result of hearing from their staff of the benefit felt in having the chaplain visit.

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Mark Heard - Lonely Moon.