ROME — The Pontifical Academy of Life has tweeted out a photoshopped version of Michelangelo’s statue of the Pietà, making the body of Jesus black.
In its tweet, the Pontifical Academy, headed by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, calls the photo “An image that is worth a speech.”
In an article titled “Pontifical Academy for Life makes powerful anti-racism statement with ‘Black Lives Matter’ Pietà,” the Catholic news agency Novenanews.com praised the work and associated it directly with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Several Catholic prelates have not been so supportive of BLM, however, including the South African Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, who accused the movement of betraying the black community.
Black Lives Matter is “committed to dismantling the very values, structure and institutions” central to a healthy society, Cardinal Napier declared this past July.
The mission statement of Black Lives Matter “indicates the movement is being hijacked by the interests and parties committed to dismantling the very values, structure and institutions which have over the centuries undergird the best civilisations and cultures!” the cardinal tweeted.
In his critique, Napier joined a growing group of Christian and black leaders who have denounced BLM for its rejection of the nuclear family and its total embrace of the LGBT agenda, including the banishment of “heteronormativity” and its advocacy of “queer culture.”
In his assessment of BLM’s problems, the cardinal noted that if BLM were truly concerned with the value of black lives, it would denounce the abortion industry and its disproportionate negative impact on black lives.
“Another crucial test of the authenticity of the Black Lives Matter movement will be its stance vis a vis Planned Parenthood and the Abortion Industry!” the cardinal noted in a separate tweet.
“The same test applies when assessing the sincerity of those who voice thunderous condemnation against Domestic Violence, (erroneously called “Gender based Violence) as opposed to the absolute silence concerning Violence inflicted upon Babies in their mother’s womb!” he added.
Cardinal Napier has compared America’s struggle with the abortion issue to his own nation’s battle over apartheid, underlining the importance of November’s presidential election.
“Catholic Voters in USA are facing same dilemma as generations of South Africans during the time of apartheid,” Cardinal Napier wrote in a tweet in early September. “Is there any choice other than to be guided by Jesus, his Gospel and the Teaching of those he has put in charge of his Church? What is God’s will at this time?”
The statue of the Pietà, located in Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, was sculpted by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1499. The artist was only 25 years old when he completed the work.