Perrella, an ambiguous appointment bordering on scandal
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cristiana Perrella as the new president of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts. This appointment raises some critical issues, as demonstrated by some of her past work in the LGBT field. Are rainbow lobbies forcing the Pope's hand? At what price must the truth be silenced for the sake of unity?
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cristiana Perrella as the new president of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts. This appointment raises some critical issues. In 2019, Perella curated the exhibition Night Fever: Designing Club Culture 1960–Today, which, among other things, supported LGBT claims, particularly those of the queer community. In an interview with Sleek, Perrella explained that clubs “were places where people could be themselves and publicly affirm their identity,” including the so-called queer identity.
In 2020, the new president curated an exhibit entitled Nudi (Nudes) in which 90 photos by Chinese artist Ren Hang, exhibited at the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art in Prato, depicted naked bodies. In some photos, the poses were homoerotic. According to the official description of the exhibition, the shots “sometimes refer to sadomasochism and fetishism.” Fast forward to 2021 and the exhibition Cult Fiction, also curated by her. The photographic exhibition reproduced the posters of adult films that appeared on the streets of Naples between 1978 and 1981. Perrella has been a member of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts since June 2022. She was appointed by Pope Francis.
Now one wonders: was there no other equally qualified but less controversial name to choose as president of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts instead of Perrella? Let us try to relate this appointment to some recent events. Let us think of the infamous LGBT jubilee pilgrimage to Rome, a veritable Pride parade in St. Peter's, and, even earlier, the private audience granted by Leo to Father James Martin, standard-bearer of rainbow claims.
The first event should not have been allowed because those groups are made up of people who want to change the Church's doctrine on homosexuality and transsexuality and do not want to change their own orientation and behavior. The meeting with Father Martin was, in itself, legitimate, but scandal must be avoided. The Jesuit priest's statements, aimed at making people believe that the Pope endorses LGBT ideology, deserve to be corrected by the Holy See. Perrella's appointment fits into this ambiguous picture, to say the least. Similarly, albeit in another context, the appointment of Renzo Pegoraro as President of the Pontifical Academy for Life is also a decision that cannot be exempt from reservations.
What we want to hypothesize is that there could be a problem of governance on the part of Leo XIV. While the Pope's writings are notable for their fidelity to doctrine, even on the subject of homosexuality, some of his choices appear dubious. Certainly, the rainbow lobby, which is very strong in the Vatican, is forcing the Pope's hand, and he may give in for the sake of peace, that is, to preserve the unity of the Church, which was so compromised during the previous pontificate. But at what price?
The issue is delicate because truth must be placed on one side of the scale and unity on the other. But truth cannot be sacrificed for unity. In the Gospel of John we read: “Many of his disciples, after hearing this, said, ‘This language is hard; who can understand it?’” (6:60). The hardness of Jesus' language refers not only to the form, but also and above all to the content: Jesus demanded a lot from his disciples. What the Lord asks is so demanding that fractures are inevitable, as John reports a few lines later in his Gospel: “From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (6:66). We have no record of Our Lord lowering the bar for fear of divisions, schisms, or being left with only a few followers.
Now, it is good and necessary for the sake of unity to compromise on secondary, marginal issues, but, when doctrine is at stake, there can be no negotiation, no risk of ambiguity, no compromise for the greater good, because unity is not a greater good than truth. It is therefore necessary to intervene, at least to clarify; otherwise, in concrete terms, the words of Father Martin, the LGBT jubilee, and the appointment of Perrella could indeed become de facto Magisterium, suggesting that Catholic doctrine on homosexuality and transsexuality has changed. The silence of the hierarchy on these facts would be interpreted by believers as tacit consent, thus constituting, on the moral level, passive complicity in evil, a form of illicit material collaboration by omission.
Thomas Aquinas is explicit on this point: “The sin of scandal is committed not only by inducing others to evil with words or deeds, but also by not preventing it, when one is obliged to do so” (Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 43, a. 7, ad 3); “Those who have authority and do not prevent evil seem to consent to it: and thus become participants in it” (Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 62, a. 7, ad 1).
[Source, in Italian]
