Bishop who thinks you can make art out of crucified frogs thinks crucified Trump is "simply perverse".

Bishop Glettler finds artwork depicting Trump on the cross "simply perverse"

The controversial artwork "Saint or Sinner" by Mason Strom, which will be shown at the "Gleis4" gallery at Basel's train station from September 6th, depicts US President Trump on the cross, continues to cause outrage. Innsbruck Bishop Hermann Glettler, himself an artist and art educator, strongly condemns the artwork.

"I find the work by the British artist Mason Storm, which was reportedly already shown in Vienna, simply perverse. There's simply nothing about it that makes any sense," Bishop Hermann Glettler criticized in an interview with kath.ch.

Cathcon: It is difficult to find any sense in Bishop Glettler's own art

"Yes, please, is that even possible?!"

"Or do they want to further intensify the egomaniacal dealmaker from Washington's lust for power with the central Christian symbol? Trump strapped to the cross as the saviour, or as a martyr in the orange clothes of a prisoner shortly before his execution? "Yes, please, is that even possible?!" exclaims the 60-year-old clergyman, who has been the Diocesan Bishop of Innsbruck since 2017.

Bishop Glettler knows a thing or two about art. He also appreciates provocative art. Glettler has also become known as an artist and art educator. His private website lists solo exhibitions and exhibition participations since 1999.

In the newly redesigned St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin, for example, in 2024, Glettler created a remarkable chapel design entitled "Crossfit," consisting of around 300 small crosses.

The crosses were removed from coffins before their cremation and symbolize nameless, often forgotten deceased. The installation thus depicts a delicate web that addresses death and solidarity, despair and hope, the bishop describes his work on his website.

The artistic interventions with contemporary artists during Lent since 2018 have become known beyond Tyrol. The 2023 contribution in particular caused a stir: Bishop Glettler had Peter Garmusch's photo installation "Pig's Heart with Rubber Ring" hung as a Lenten veil in Innsbruck's Spitalskirche.

But back to Mason Storm's "Saint or Sinner?" with Trump on the cross. Bishop Glettler really has no use for that at all. He particularly condemns the disrespectful treatment of religious symbols. "Or do you want to elevate the obsessive self-aggrandizement that Trump demonstrates daily to an ironic level? If so, then the question remains, by what means?"

Unfortunately, according to the clergyman and artist, "everything, absolutely everything, about this thing, which will be on display at Basel's train station from September 6th, is a speculative business venture that has lost all respect for religious symbols. What is truly reprehensible is the speculation about the hoped-for outrage of those who believe in the message of Jesus and in his liberating, absolutely non-violent sacrifice on the cross. This contradicts the current performance of the President of the United States in almost every respect, whose unpredictability and fabrications of lies will likely cause further harm."

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