The sculpture of the Virgin Mary giving birth has outraged some Catholics. They say it is “blasphemy”

A sculpture has appeared in the Linz Cathedral in Austria, which has caused great outrage in some Catholic circles. The work depicts the Virgin Mary giving birth. “The sculpture by Esther Strauß was part of an exhibition devoted to the role of women, ideas about family and gender equality,” the Linz diocese reported. The artist emphasized that most depictions of Mary were made by men. She wanted to change that and show the moment of birth from a female perspective.

A believer destroyed a sculpture. He did it for Mary

The sculpture stirred up huge emotions. In the commemorative book, the faithful left entries that indicated an exceptionally negative reception of the work. At one point, an unknown perpetrator cut off Mary’s head. As it was later reported, “he did it for the Mother of God”.

The work outraged, among others, the German Cardinal Gerhard Müller. In his opinion, the Church should choose those works of art that – in his opinion – serve piety and faith. In addition, he connected the sculpture with… “Feminist ideology”.

– Mary is the one who points to Christ, her Son and true God. It is all the more necessary to reject the instrumentalization of Mary for the purposes of presenting feminist ideologies opposed to the alleged patriarchal and narrow-mindedness of the Church – he commented in an interview with the portal Kath.net.

“Reclaiming a place for women in the Church”

It is worth mentioning that Zuzanna Radzik, a theologian associated with “Tygodnik Powszechny”, also spoke out on the matter. In her opinion, the reaction of some believers is exaggerated. “Therefore, even if it is not an outstanding sculpture, I will defend such representations: real, feminine, maternal, pressing in the birth of the Savior, such as our births. Her regained female body also regains a place for women in the Church,” wrote Radzik.