Vatican Slams New Modernist Pope John Paul II Sculpture by Oliviero Rainaldi

artwork: An image showing the unveiled statue of Pope John Paul II by Oliviero Rainaldi at the Piazza dei Cinquecento. - Photo-EPA


ROME (AP).-
The Vatican on Friday slammed a giant new modernist sculpture that portrays John Paul II, saying the bronze work outside Rome’s main train station doesn’t even look like the late pontiff. Commuters and tourists say the statue looks more like the late Italian dictator Benito Mussolini than the widely beloved pope. “How could they have given such a kind pope the head of a Fascist?” said 71-year-old Antonio Lamonica, in the bustling square outside Termini Train Station, in Rome.  As he pondered the statue, his wife muttered, “It’s ugly, really ugly, very ugly.”

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