From: "Sound of Trumpet" 

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1801443/posts


Spanish bishops denounce blasphemous pornographic catalogue

Catholic News Agency ^ | March 15, 2007


Posted on 03/15/2007 12:20:44 PM PDT by NYer


Madrid, Mar 15, 2007 / 08:44 am (CNA).- Archbishop Santiago Garcia of
Merida-Badajoz and Bishop Amadeo Rodriguez of Plasencia have strongly
denounced the tax-payer funded publication of a catalogue containing
pornographic images of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Saints.

Archbishop Garcia issued a statement on the publications called
"Sanctorum" and "In Breeding" by photographer J.A.M
Montoya and supported by officials in the region of Exremadura, saying they
"profoundly and gravely harm the religious sentiments of
Christians."

The archbishop called it regrettable that local officials would support the
publication of pornographic, insulting, and blasphemous images. "I
wish to make known my radical disagreement and profound disgust for this
inexcusable act that does not contribute in any way to the cultural
enrichment of our people, the education of our young people, and the
well-deserved positive image of Extremadura," he stated.

Bishop Rodriguez issued his own statement condemning the publication as an
offense against "the most beloved and sacred aspects of our Catholic
religion, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and his Most
Holy Mother."

He said that responsibility for the photos falls not only on their creator,
"but also on those who promote them, who show them, and even those who
use them for reasons unrelated to the faith."

He called on Catholics and people of good will to express their repulsion
of such photos, "because they offend the holy realities of our
religion and also because they are completely foreign and extraneous to our
culture."

The photos represent a painful rupture with Spain's artistic patrimony, he
stressed, which always found its greatest source of inspiration in images
of the faith.

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