Controversial artist is given a guided tour of Vienna's St Stephen's Cathedral in 2008

 

 About a week ago, the Archdiocese of Vienna hit the international headlines because of an exhibition of blasphemous works by the Austrian artist, Alfred Hrdlicka. The scandal was triggered by a painting depicting Jesus' Last Supper as a homosexual orgy. From the China Morning Post to the US TV channel ABC, all major media reported on the small cathedral museum in the shadow of St. Stephen's Cathedral. In Europe, El País in Madrid, The Telegraph in London, Corriere della Sera in Milan, Gazeta Wyborcza in Poland, Die Welt in Germany and of course the Austrian media, among others, wrote reports. Cardinal Schönborn had to publish a dissociation after initial hesitation. According to insider reports, the archdiocesan press office was in turmoil. But the Archdiocese's relations with Alfred Hrdlicka are still intact. The parish priest of Vienna's cathedral parish, Tony Faber, even took time in person yesterday afternoon, 17 April, to give the author of the blasphemous work a tour of St Stephen's Cathedral. Cathedral priest Faber had already been present at the opening of the blasphemous exhibition and also saw the scandalous works on that occasion. That is why, at the height of the international scandal, a journalist from the Milan daily newspaper "Il Giornale" asked why no member of the Cardinal's staff had noticed the Hrdlicka works for eight days.  Source