Lord Have Mercy: The Appalling Art of Marko Rupnik

No, it's not a 1970's postage stamp.

The Jubilee of Mercy has just unveiled its official "logo". It was designed by the Slovenian Jesuit artist Marko Rupnik.

Why do two figures--Jesus and the anonymous man slung over his shoulder--only have three eyes? Because, according to the "Description of the Logo" on the Jubilee of Mercy website,

while the Good Shepherd, in his great mercy, takes humanity upon himself, his eyes are merged with those of man. Christ sees with the eyes of Adam, and Adam with the eyes of Christ.

And what of that different colored background?

The three concentric ovals, with colors progressively lighter as we move outward, suggest the movement of Christ who carries humanity out of the night of sin and death. Conversely, the depth of the darker color suggests the impenetrability of the love of the Father who forgives all.

I was just about to point that out.

A recent Patheos critic was more critical:

My first thought was: Why does Jesus have two heads? Is it theological statement on his two natures? Is the other head supposed to be Rosy Grier? 

Then I realized that the mustard colored thing draped across his shoulders isn’t a stole or something, but a man, and Jesus appears ready to body slam the dude into the mat. I think I saw King Kong Bundy do this to Doink the Clown once. 

Why does he have no bones? And the merging eyeball is seriously disturbing...

It's appropriate that for the follow-up to the Synod on the Family--a frontal sly attack on Christian theology--they would adopt a logo that is a sly frontal attack on Christian art.

In the past Rupnik has collaborated in desecrating Lourdes, Fatima and the tomb of Padre Pio. They can't get away with banning people from visiting these sites (yet), so they try to make the aesthetic experience of the visitors as unpleasant as possible.

Lourdes: Stone massage therapy is offered after Mass

Fatima: The aisle doubles as a runway for the papal plane

Tomb of Padre Pio: He wouldn't have been surprised.

I would have instead nominated this modernist piece to symbolize the state of the current Church. It's by Edvard Munch. You all know its name: