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Hans Memling, Last Judgment Triptych
Flemish, c. 1467-1471
Strasbourg, Musée des Beaux-Arts |
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who
believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around
his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.”
(Mark 9:42, repeated in Matthew 16:8
and Luke 17:1).
UPDATE: THIS ARTICLE DATES FROM 2018. I AM POSTING IT AGAIN IN RESPONSE TO THE RELEASE BY THE VATICAN OF THE RESULTS OF THEIR INVESTIGATION INTO THE RISE OF FORMER CARDINAL AND PRIEST THEODORE MCCARRICK, THE AMERICAN POSTER BOY FOR SEXUAL ABUSE WITHIN THE CHURCH.
IN ADDITION, THE SURGERY MENTIONED IN THE SECOND PARAGRAPH OF THIS ENTRY WAS PERFORMED SUCCESSFULLY ON DECEMBER 12, 2018 AND I HAVE SINCE RECOVERED MOST OF MY FUNCTIONALITY. THANKS BE TO GOD!
This summer has truly been a summer of pain for me. On Friday night, June 29, I went to bed with
nothing but the usual “background” pain that I have lived with for a dozen
years as the effects of aging have begun to cause a narrowing of the bony tube
through which my spinal cord runs. In
most places, the narrowing has been minimal but in one or two it has been
growing worse in recent years, sometimes causing significant pain in movement,
but not truly keeping me from doing most of the things I want to do.
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The Alexander Master, Jesus Curing the Paralytic Woman
From a History Bible
Dutch (Utrecht), c. 1430
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek
MS KB 78 D 38, fol. 170r |
On Saturday morning, June 30, I woke up to a changed
world. I could hardly walk; I could not
straighten up. To avoid piercing pain, I
had to walk bent at a 90o angle.
I needed a cane for support, then a walker. Since that date I have been unable to do
almost all of the things I like and want to do.
I have visited multiple doctors and had multiple tests. The MRI tests reveal the cause of the sudden
onset of this pain – a herniated disc, but also slippage of two of my
vertebrae. I have been forced to take
powerful drugs to reduce my pain and to stabilize the nerves. They help, but cannot relieve the pain even
so far as to get me back to where I was on June 29. I am now facing serious surgery to try
to relieve the terrible pressure on the spinal nerves. All this would be pain enough to occupy my
mind at any time.
However, there has been another pain, which began at about
the same time as my physical pain. This
is the pain of the horrendous revelations about the abuse of children, young
adults and seminarians that have been brought to light by the removal from
public ministry (June 20) and resignation from the College of Cardinals of
Archbishop Theodore McCarrick (July 27), followed by the release of the
Pennsylvania Grand Jury’s Report on sexual abuse in the dioceses of that state
over the entire span of my life (August 14) and the release of Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò’s
“testimony” about the cover up of Archbishop McCarrick’s abusive behavior,
which he claimed extended all the way to Pope Francis (August 27). As I write this the latest jabs of pain have
come from Germany, where three times as many children are said to have suffered
abuse over the same time span as in Pennsylvania, and the announcement from many
states attorneys general, including my home state of New York, that they are
also opening investigations into clerical sex abuse.
This psychological pain has been as difficult
to bear as the physical pain. And while
my physical pain affects no one but myself, this pain is shared by millions of
other Catholics all over the world, who are angry, confused and hurting. It is further compounded by the astonishing
lack of sensible, honest action from the Holy See and many, though not most,
bishops.
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Last Judgment
From Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of LIebano
Spanish (Castille), c. 1200-1225
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 2290, fol. 160
Here we see the two different outcomes of the Last Judgment. At the top the Blessed travel toward the left (Jesus' right hand) into heaven, while in the second tier the Damned travel to the right (Jesus' left) bound by chains and led by devils toward their destination in Hell, seen below. Prominent in both groups are kings, bishops and priests. However, more priests seem destined for Hell than Heaven.
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Given my own disposition, I have looked at the situation with
somewhat different eyes than have many of those with whom I have spoken.
I recognize in this terribly shocking
situation the telltale signs of an old story, one that seems to play out every
500 years in the life of the Church.
Sadly, it’s happened before.
I think
of the sixth century, when Saint Benedict was so repulsed by the decadence he
found in late Roman/early medieval society that he fled to a cave in the
mountains.
I think of Saint Peter Damian
in the eleventh century, when he strove to reform the Church from exactly the
same sins we see revealed today.
I think
of the sixteenth century, when a series of popes with names like Borgia, della
Rovere and Medici lived unedifying lives, culminating in the papacies of Alexander
VI Borgia, with his mistresses and brood of acknowledged children, and Julius
II della Rovere, with his lust for worldly power and art.
Their lifestyles, which revolted many,
provided ample material for the onslaught of the Protestant Reformation, which
their successor, Leo X Medici, was quite unable to face.
And now, in the twenty-first century, right
on time, a similar scandal rears its very ugly head.
The church always suffers through the sins of
those who cause the scandal, but She also always rises, in better shape than She
was before.
This time, however, the situation is a bit more serious. The crises of the sixth, eleventh and
sixteenth centuries took place in a more confined space, i.e., Europe and, with
the exception of the sixth century, in a more unified religious situation,
i.e., a Christian Europe. Not since the sixth
century has the Church faced a crisis like this in such a hostile environment
as we have today. Nevertheless, the
knowledge that it has happened before and that the Church has rebounded should
be of some comfort, even in what is still likely to be a very bitter and
worsening experience. We have not seen
the bottom yet, and I fear we have a long way to go before we do see it.
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Last Judgment
From the Psalter of St. Louis and of Blanche of Castille
French, c. 1225
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Arsenal 1186, fol. 170
In this picture from the Psalter that belonged to the French king and saint, Saint Louis
(Louis IX) we see that a bishop and cardinal are among those roped together and
pulled toward Hell by a demon, just as a bishop, a king and several monks are led
toward Heaven by an angel.
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In this regard art may have something to offer to us.
Because it is a visual record of the thought of the past, it can remind us in a graphic way of something that seems to
have been forgotten by those “men of God” who have done these evil deeds.
They are sins.
They were sins in the first century, they
were sins in the sixth century, as in the eleventh and the sixteenth.
And they remain sins today.
Sins have consequences, both in this life and
in the next.
Grave sins, such as the
sexual abuse of a child or young person, have grave consequences and result,
not just in the damage done to the innocent victim, but to the abuser.
The abuser damns himself both in this life
and, far worse, in the next.
Without the
acknowledgment of and request for forgiveness of these acts, the abuser chooses
final damnation for himself.
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Giotto, Last Judgment, Hell (Detail)
Italian, 1306
Padua, Scrovegni/Arena Chapel
The great painter Giotto painted the Last Judgment as the crowning image of the famous Arena Chapel, offering the image of the final act that completes the wonderful series of frescoes depicting the life of Christ. Here we are looking at the half of the painting that depicts Hell. Clerical figures are prominent throughout. You are invited to play detective and find the condemned clerics. Look for the tonsure or for the bishop's miter. Also, several clerical figures are also monks, these are indicated by the rather peculiar fact, that although their bodies are naked, they wear the cowl, a hood pulled over their heads. You can see one bishop seated slightly to the left of the huge figure of Satan. Naked in body, he wears the bishop's miter, and is receiving a bag of money from a kneeling figure in front of him, to whom he is indicating silence with the same gesture we use today. Does this remind you some parts of our current situation?
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It has become fashionable in recent decades to assume that the
loving God who gave himself for us would never condemn anyone to hell, that he
will forgive anything.
But that is
wishful thinking, coming from the kind of mushy La-La land school of
Christianity lite that has become all too prevalent since the 1960s.
Jesus himself is quoted by the three Synoptic
Gospel writers as saying “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe
in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around
his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9:42, repeated in Matthew 16:8
and Luke 17:1).
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Andrea Orcagna, Fragment of Hell from the Last Judgment
Italian, c. 1345
Florence, Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce
In this double scene from Hell two specific sins are highlighted. In the portion at the top the sin is that of Anger. In the bottom portion, it is the clearly labeled "Avaritia" or Avarice. While no clerics are represented among the angry, a number of them, including a pope, a cardinal and a bishop join a king and judge among the greedy.
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Sin then remains sin now and it
is the failure to confront and overcome our darker desires, to be overcome by them and to act on them that is
at the heart of the abuse crisis in the church.
It is not specifically homosexuality or heterosexuality that is to blame
(though by all accounts the majority of persons abused were young boys and
young men) but the sin of the priest who acted on his sexual desire, whether
its focus was a young boy, or girl, or young man or woman, or older man or
woman.
It remains a sin even if the object of his desire consented with him, for priests swear a vow of chastity in the single state. That is to remain celibate in perpetuity, not merely to remain unmarried. Therefore, it is sin, period.
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Last Judgment
German, After 1400
Würzburg, Episcopal Collection
Although by far the greatest portion of this painting is devoted to the paradise earned by the Saved, the lower right corner does portray a group of the Damned being driven into the mouth of Hell by both demons and an angel. In the group are a pope (identifiable by his white garment and short red cape, as well as the triple crown), an emperor, a king and a bishop. All are easily identifiable by their distinctive headgear. Several others in the group are less distinct.
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The very word “sin” has scarcely been mentioned during this entire
summer, but that is the underlying subject.
It is not the fault of “errors of judgment” or “violation of boundaries”
that is at fault, still less is it “clericalism”. It is plain, old fashioned sin against the
sixth and the ninth commandments. In
that we have lost a sense of what this is really about, we may find it hard to
eradicate. And this is where the subject
becomes most difficult.
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Master of the Brussels Initials and Associates, The Torments of Hell
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c 1405-1407
London, British Library
MS Additional 29433, fol. 89r
This detailed image features many clerical figures. Watch for the tonsured heads, the miter, the triple tiara, the distinctive red galero hat of the cardinals. It is somewhat unusual in depicting some members of the popular Franciscan, Dominican and Benedictine orders still dressed in their habits (for better recognition value) and it includes several nuns as well. in addition. there are also many figures from the secular world, such as kings and judges (always good bets for assignment to Hell).
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In the past times I mentioned, when the church has been in crisis, there has always been radical reform.
That reform usually was so radical that it
was able to carry the church through about the next 400 years.
Then, in the years between 400 and 500 from
the previous event, there was a gradual loss of discipline and a softening up
that lead, as this has, into the same kind of morass we are in today.
Each time, an event has occurred,
unexpected, unlooked for, that turned the church around.
In the sixth century it was the work of Saint
Benedict, who as a young man turned his back on a decadent Rome, and ended up
founding the Benedictine order which, as it spread out across Europe, gradually
effected reformation of the church and the Christianization of Europe.
In the eleventh, it was the work of a series
of reforming popes and of Saint Peter Damian, that cleaned out the church and
set the stage for the glories of the high middle ages.
In the sixteenth, it was the Council of Trent
and another series of reforming popes and cardinals that reset the church on a
firm footing as it confronted both its own corruption and the challenge of the Protestant Reformation and that opened up
the splendid era of the Counter-Reformation and Baroque.
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Limbourg Brothers (Jean, Paul and Herman), Hell
From the Tres Riches Heures du duc de Berry
Netherlandish, c. 1411-1418
Chantilly, Musée Condé
MS 65, fol. 108r
Clerical figures predominate in the group of figures clustered around the image of Satan, including a bound cardinal being dragged by one demon and stabbed by another at the lower left.
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In the twenty-first century, we are still
waiting for the reform that is needed.
Among the sad and painful things that I have witnessed this summer is spiteful
sniping within the elite of the church, as though this were simply another part
of the culture wars and an internal power struggle within the ranks of the
hierarchy, virtually divorced from real people and their very real pain. There has been a near spectacular failure of the
Pope to confront this issue. And,
judging by his record with regard to Chile, he will need to be faced with
radical anger directly before he will confront it. It is not reassuring. So far, the “reforming pope” of the 2013
conclave seems to have only succeeded in drawing around himself a group of men
who appear to share in the very corruption that needs to be excised. Without an equally spectacular reformation of thought and action, we may have a long wait for the real reform so desperately
needed.
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Fra Angelico and Assistants, The Last Judgment
Italian, c. 1431
Florence, Museo di San Marco
Those who have earned damnation are being herded toward the mouth of Hell by demons. The group includes a cardinal, at least one bishop (possibly more), and several members of different religious orders, as well as numerous secular authority figures, such as kings and judges.
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We need to return to the acknowledgement that these things are sins, damaging to the sinner as well as to the victim. Further, that they are sins whether
the sinner is a lay person or a cleric.
And the middle ages can teach us something here. They had no doubt about the fate of those who
remain in sin. Long ago I noted, with
some surprise and amusement, that nearly every scene of the Last Judgment or of
the damned writhing in hellfire included a sprinkling of churchmen, as well as
secular authority figures. Look for figures wearing the distinctive headgear of bishops, cardinals and popes, and for the distinctive circular clerical tonsure on the heads of monks and priest in these scenes, as well as for the robes of judges and the crowns of kings. The people saw these
images when they prayed in church and they also appeared in their
Books of Hours. They were not afraid to
acknowledge that sin is sin, that no state in life is exempt from sin, and that
“the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
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Stefan Lochner, Last Judgment
German, c. 1435
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum
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Jan van Eyck and Workshop Assistant, The Last Judgment (Detail of Hell)
Dutch, c. 1440-1441
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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Bartolomeo di Tommaso, Hell-Luxuria, From a Last Judgment
Italian, c. 1444
Terni, Church of San Frencesco, Cappella Paradisi
It should be noted that the word "luxuria" that appears here is not a reference to our contemporary understanding of the word "luxury", as in a luxury automobile or hotel room. "Luxuria" is the sin of lust.
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Dieric Bouts the Elder, Hell
Dutch, c. 1450
Lille, Musée des Beaux-Arts
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Fra Angelico, Last Judgment
Italian, c 1450
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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Maitre de Coetivy, Hell
From Commedia Divina by Dante
French (Paris), c. 1460-1465
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Italien 72v, fol. 1
A bishop is among the sinners being dragged in at the bottom left and a pope is in the middle of the fiery cauldron at the right.
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Hans Memling, Hell
Detail from the Last Judgment Triptych (shown at the top of this essay)
Flemish, c. 1467-1471
Strasbourg, Musée des Beaux-Arts
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Master Francois, Last Judgment
From Les Sept articles de la foi by Jean Chappuis
French, c. 1470
Chicago, Art Institute
The damned, bent figure being pushed into Hell by the sword wielding angel at the left shows the clerical tonsure.
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Last Judgment, The Saved and the Damned
From Renner
Austrian (Tyrol), c. 1475-149
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M763. fol. 260v
Equal opportunity for salvation and damnation is shown here as a pope, a bishop and a cardinal are admitted to Heaven by Saint Peter, while a devil welcomes a bishop and cardinal to Hell.
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The Damned Entering Hell
From a Last Judgment Wall Painting
German, c 1499
Weilheim an der Teck, Evangelical Parish Church of St. Peter
At the forefront a pope has fallen (no doubt from surprise) and is being assisted by a bishop and cardinal as he is prodded into the mouth of Hell by demons.
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Charles the Fat Visits Hell
From Chronique de Saint-Denis et des rois de France
French, c. 1500-1525
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 24948, fol. 26v
For the story of the vision of Charles the Fat see below. 1
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Master of the Orleans Triptych, Last Judgment
French, c. 1500
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection
A cardinal appears as one of the damned in the top group.
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Triumph of Death
From Trionfi by Petrarch
French, c. 1500-1525
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 12423, fol. 37v |
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Hans Weiditz, Hell
German, c. 1520
London, British Museum
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Frans Francken II, the Damned Being Cast into Hell
Detail from a Last Judgment
Flemish, c. 1605-1610
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
After about 1600, following the effects of the Council of Trent and the general tightening up of discipline in the Church, the frequency of depicting clerical figures suffering in Hell declined sharply.
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Joseph Anton Koch, Hell
From the Dante Cycle
Austrian, c. 1827-1828
Rome, Casino Massimo
This nineteenth-century painting shows a couple of ecclesiastical figures. There is what looks like a friar among the group gathered around Satan and a bishop struggling with a man in secular dress at the extreme bottom left. At around this time there was a revival of interest in the Divine Comedy of Dante, especially in the first volume, Inferno/Hell. For example, Eugene Delacroix painted the Barque of Dante (Paris, Musée du Louvre) in 1822.
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Octave Tassaert, Heaven and Hell
French, c. 1850
Cleveland, Museum of Art
This is the latest image of Hell with any reference to a religious figure among the damned. And, in this case it is not a bishop or cardinal or other cleric, but a seemingly pregnant nun. This may say much about the fears of the middle of the nineteenth century, but not much that is relevant to the scandals of today or of the past.
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We need to remind ourselves of this truth, whether we are a lay person,
a priest, a bishop or a pope and all the more so when we are sinners.
For the unrepentant sinner who “causes one of
these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a
great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”
(Mark 9:42, repeated in Matthew 16:8 and Luke 17:1).
That is the message of our forebears.
We would do well to remember it now.
© M. Duffy, 2018
1. Hell-On-Line, a website developed by my former classmate, medieval historian Eileen Gardiner. It can be found at Hell-On-Line Information about the vision of Charles the Fat can be found at Number 30 of the Judeo/Christian Hell section, in the period "Before the Christian Era to 1000 CE", copyright 2007 by Italica Press
Scripture texts in this work are taken
from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by
permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New
American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from
the copyright owner.
