Pope Francis (1936 – 2025)
On Monday, the world mourned the loss of Pope Francis, who served as head of the Catholic Church for over twelve years. As the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics, Pope Francis was an incredibly powerful voice for the causes he championed. His commitment to social justice, the environment, and marginalized communities was unwavering, always echoing the values of empathy, mercy, and humility. His advocacy for the arts, not only within the Vatican but globally, was a testament to his belief in the power of culture to foster understanding and peace.
While the Vatican has been involved in the contemporary arts since the 1970s, Francis’s pontificate saw the papacy double down on its commitment to living artists. He facilitated the greater inclusion of modernist contemporary art in the Vatican Museums, including opening the contemporary art gallery at the Vatican Apostolic Library. Furthermore, in 2013, the first year of Francis’s papacy, Vatican City opened a pavilion at the Venice Biennale for the first time. The Pope visited the exhibition last year, marking the first time the event has received a papal visit. Importantly, he spoke of art’s importance and how it is necessary for art to be accessible. He said in an interview that art “must be alive”, and that Vatican Museums cannot be “dusty repositories of the past reserved for the select few… but a vital [institution] which looks after the objects in its care to tell their stories to people today, starting from the most disadvantaged of its visitors.” He further described the use of art in cross-cultural exchange as “an instrument for peace”.
As an advocate for marginalized people, Pope Francis was a constant supporter of the repatriation of art and artifacts stolen during colonial exploits. During a visit to Canada, he officially apologized for the Catholic clergy’s abuse of Indigenous children at religious schools. The Pope also acknowledged that the Vatican Museums contain art and other cultural objects stolen from Canada’s First Nations, promising they would be returned to the land of their origin. In a similar vein, he facilitated the return of several statuary fragments to Greece that had once been part of the Parthenon. Perhaps the British should take notice…
Pope Francis invited artists to the Vatican to discuss the importance of their work. He stated, “Like the biblical prophets, you confront things that at times are uncomfortable; you criticize today’s false myths and new idols, its empty talk, the ploys of consumerism, the schemes of power.” The late Pope also did not shy away from controversial works of art that made bold statements or commented on uncomfortable subjects. Most notably, in 2023, he invited Andres Serrano, creator of the 1987 photograph Piss Christ, to a Sistine Chapel address. Serrano had been criticized, with his work decried as blasphemous.
With freedom of speech in danger in many parts of the world, the papacy has often stood as a defender of artists in recent decades. Some predict that, with the upcoming conclave, the Church may swing away from the relative liberalism of Francis towards a more traditionalist direction. However, for the sake of the arts and freedom of expression, the College of Cardinals keeping a hardliner out of the Throne of Saint Peter might be in everyone’s best interest. But regardless, Pope Francis will be dearly missed.