That's what fashion thrives on: subversion and irreverence; an immaculately groomed, sneering Johnny Rotten worth millions, the world's best-dressed troll.

The latest person to express outrage at this industry's flagrant disregard for common decency is the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who writes in the foreword to his first Lent book that the crucifix has become a fashion statement, devoid of religious meaning.

This from a man who regularly wears a dress made of gold. Continue reading.

Harriet Walker is a fashion journalist, author and columnist. She is news editor of digital fashion magazine Never Underdressed.

Source: The Guardian

Image: Show Studio

The trouble with the crucifix is we no longer see it, but rather filter the image through our eyes of faith. Some people wear it as an accessory like gold earrings or a necklace; others use it as a talisman to ward off evil, if not vampires. A few brave souls even have it tattooed on various parts of their anatomy. The truth is, if we actually took the time to see the crucifix, we, like the Chinese, would be shocked, if not thoroughly scandalized.

While the Romans did not invent this particularly brutal form of capital punishment, they certainly perfected it. They were not interested in simply killing criminals; they intended to demean and dehumanize them. The slow, tortuous death was a bonus. The public spectacle served not only as a punishment for miscreants but also as a warning to anyone who harbored similar rebellious thoughts.

When I ask Bible study groups why Jesus was crucified, I get the formulaic "He died for our sins" or sometimes "He died to show God's love for us," which are true enough, but not complete. Certainly the powers-that-be who conspired to silence the pesky rabbi from Nazareth didn't have the salvation of the human race in mind. Rephrasing the question: "What did Jesus do to deserve crucifixion?" proves more thought-provoking. Clearly Jesus and his message posed a threat to the status quo, both religious and political. His cleansing of the Temple was the last straw. But the physical expulsion of merchants and moneychangers from the Court of the Gentiles was simply the final, dramatic manifestation of Jesus' scandalous message throughout his ministry: God loves everybody, unconditionally. Continue reading

Sources

• Joseph R Veneroso in National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Vimeo

Maryknoll Fr. Joseph R. Veneroso is a former editor and publisher of Maryknoll magazine and Revista Maryknoll.

David Jimenez, a 45-year-old man from New York, offered to clean the crucifix as a service after he prayed to the monument every day while his wife, Delia, was fighting cancer.

But as Mr Jimenez scrubbed the marble statue on Memorial Day in 2010, it fell off the pedestal and landed on his leg, the Mid-Hudson News Network reported.

The injury left Mr Jimenez's leg so mangled that doctors were forced to amputate it from just below the knee.

The pizza parlour worker is now suing the church for $3 million, claiming the priest who gave him permission to clean the unstable crucifix was negligent.

The church told CBS New York the congregation of the St Patrick in Newburgh raised around $7,000 in cash donations for the Jimenez family.

But Kevin Kitson, the lawyer representing Mr Jimenez, said the insurance company for the church had made collecting the money difficult.

Mr Kitson also said his client was a devout Catholic and believed his prayers to the crucifix played a role in his wife's recovery.

"David attributed the cure to his devotion to that cross," he said.

Mr Kitson claims only one screw held the crucifix in place. Continue reading

"There are few places on earth where religious fervor is matched in such graphic shows of penitence and resolve to do better", Asian Pearl Vision, a small luxury travel designer in the Philippines writes on its website.

In an article "Crucifixion in the Philippines: Tourists Welcome", the travel agency gives a link to various Good Friday events.

A Dutch woman, a travel show host from Holland, lamented to Reuters she did not get the full experience.

"We tried to carry a huge cross, we couldn't because everybody was filming us, and we tried to suffer like these people suffer, but it's very hard. We were the centre of attention instead of them."

Despite repeated requests from the Catholic bishops, for some Philippines Catholics' devotion calls them to this extreme expression of their faith.

"This is a vow I had made to God so that He will spare my family from sickness," the penitent, a faith healer, Arturo Bating, told ABC News after his ordeal.

Another, Alex Laranang, 57, also told ABC News had had himself crucified every year for the past 12 years.

"I had made a vow to do this every year until I die," Mr Laranang, who sells snacks aboard buses for a living, said.

"I do not expect anything in return. I do this for my God."

Like Mr Bating, he said the physical pain was a minor inconvenience.

"I hardly feel any pain. The nerves have been deadened," he said.

"After this, I go home, eat and go to sleep. After two days I go back to work."

In some cases the devotees - who do not take painkillers - also had their feet nailed to the cross and one person had to be rushed off in a waiting ambulance after his feet suffered from heavy bleeding.

Crucifixions are the grisliest, but by no means the only extreme acts of penitence on show in the Philippines.

Dozens of barefoot male devotees wearing black hoods whipped their own bare backs bloody with strips of bamboo tied to a string as they walk the neighbourhoods on Thursday and Friday.

They were followed by groups of children who covered their faces as blood from the whips sprayed on to their clothes.

The ceremonies are supervised by local governments, which put medical treatment on standby, said Reynaldo Sulit, a district official in Paombong.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has urged penitents against crucifying themselves, reports ucanews.com.

President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu, said the Church would rather have people renewing their faith than inflicting pain on themselves.

"While we are trying to discourage these practices we cannot also judge their intention, especially those who have made it as their vow," the prelate said.

"We do not judge and condemn [the practice] but we discourage it," he added.

Sources

• ucanews.com
• Reuters
• ABC News
• Asiana Pearl Vision
• Image: Reuters

"May your soul burn in hell" wrote a furious Facebook user, one of many who have denounced the work of Mideo Cruz as offensive art.

Cruz intended the work to be a commentary on icon worship, however it has been labelled as "demonic" and he has reportedly been bombarded with death threats.

Official of the state-run Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP) closed the exhibit on Tuesday after former first lady and art patron Imelda Marcos along with politicians and leaders of the Catholic Church denounced the exhibit.

ucanews.com reports that Catholic Jo Imbong, executive director of the St Thomas More Society, said they considered filing charges against the CCP for violating the Penal Code.

The works that fanned the controversy in the exhibit called "Kulo" are images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary which were adorned with objects not related to Christianity - among others, a crucifix with a wooden penis and a Christ the King figurine with rabbit ears.

CCP chairperson Emily Abera stood by the legitimacy of the artistic expression and said the CCP saw nothing wrong with the exhibition.

"I don't know if they've viewed the entire exhibit. Mr Medeo Cruz's installation is one of the 32 artists and I think we should take it as part of the exhibit. This is part of the dialogue of the discourse, part of social community. Not all art is for aesthetic purposes...and that is the context from which the exhibit must be taken."

Cruz is a 37-year-old visual and performance artist who has exhibited in such international art centres as New York, Paris and Tokyo, and said he had wanted to provoke a reaction but was surprised by the violence of the response.

"You can't force people. But I just hope that when we look at something, the process doesn't stop at the surface," he said.

According to Cruz his work is about the worship of relics and how idolatry evolves through history and modern culture.

Posters of Christ and the Virgin Mary, crucifixes and religious curios recall the 300 years of Spanish rule that implanted Catholicism in the Philippines, while images of Mickey Mouse, the Statue of Liberty and U.S. President Barack Obama point to the lasting influence of U.S. imperialism.

"This speaks about objects that we worship, how we create these gods and idols, and how we in turn are created by our gods and idols," Cruz said.

One part of the installation is a giant wooden crucifix with a bright red penis that can be moved up and down, a symbol of a patriarchal society where men are "worshipped," he said.

Sources

• ucanews.com
• Reuters
• Associated Press

"It is an important and historic ruling," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement, adding that the decision "has been welcomed with satisfaction by the Holy See."

Speaking on behalf of the government, Franco Mfattini, Italy's Foreign Minister also welcomed the ruling. "Today Europe's popular sentiment won out," he said.

The court over-ruled a previous decision and was passed by 15 votes to two.

Lombardi said the court recognised "that the exhibition of the crucifix is not indoctrination but the expression of the cultural and religious identity of countries of a Christian tradition."

It also recognised "that the culture of human rights must not be inconsistent with the religious fundamentals of a European civilisation in which Christianity has made an essential contribution," Lombardi said.

The case was brought by an Italian mother who was unhappy that crucifixes were on display in every classroom in a state school.

Friday's ruling by a higher court is final.

Sources:
Yahoo
Reuters