Pope visits Venice to speak to the artists and inmates behind the Biennale's must
VENICE, Italy (AP) — Venice has always been a place of contrasts, of breathtaking beauty and devastating fragility, where history, religion, art and nature have collided over the centuries to produce an otherworldly gem of a city. But even for a place that prides itself on its culture of unusual encounters, Pope Francis’ visit Sunday stood out.
Francis traveled to the lagoon city to visit the Holy See’s pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art show and meet with the people who created it. But because the Vatican decided to mount its exhibit in Venice’s women’s prison, and invited inmates to collaborate with the artists, the whole project assumed a far more complex meaning, touching on Francis’ belief in the power of art to uplift and unite, and of the need to give hope and solidarity to society’s most marginalized.
Francis hit on both messages during his visit, which began in the courtyard of the Giudecca prison where he met with the women inmates one by one. As some of them wept, Francis urged them to use their time in prison as a chance for “moral and material rebirth.”
Related articles
Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Maryland ban on rifles known as assault weapons
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday declined, for now, to hear a challenge to a Maryland l2024-05-21Luxon assures Ukraine's Zelensky of New Zealand's 'strong' support
File photo. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN in New York, September 2023. Photo: TIMOT2024-05-21Despair in Gaza as fighting intensifies, despite Israel promise to scale back
Smoke billows over buildings in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, during Israeli bombardment2024-05-21In pictures: 2024 Rātana celebrations
Winston Peters, Christopher Luxon and Shane Jones at Rātana Pā, January 2024. Photo: Angus Dreaver /2024-05-21The government wants to buy their flood
HOUSTON (AP) — After the floodwaters earlier this month just about swallowed two of the six homes th2024-05-21Doubt surrounds chances of carbon credits auction selling out
The three previous auctions this year have all failed to get enough volume of bids above the reserve2024-05-21
atest comment