Decapitated statues of Mary are not uncommon in European nations culturally enriched by Muslim migration. So the July 1 beheading of the Virgin Mary in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (aka Mariendom) in Linz, Austria, was a welcome detour from a political minefield. It shifted attention from Islam to a less threatening adversary: Catholic traditionalists.
Let me explain.
“Crowning,” a coarsely crafted sculpture of the Virgin Mary in labor, went on display at the cathedral as part of “DonnaStage,” a tangle of events celebrating the 100th anniversary of Mariendom’s consecration. The Linz Diocese, eager to assert its modernity, boasts that Mariendom is “a place to negotiate questions about women’s roles, family images and gender equality.”
A claim to negotiate questions is a ruse for making statements. “Crowning” was a statement-in-effigy of feminist resentments that have generated assaults on taste since the 1960s, at least. There in the cathedral’s great nave, showcased in solitary majesty like Michelangelo’s “Pietà,” was a charmless Virgin. She was nude from the belly down — legs spread and knees akimbo — straining to give birth to baby Jesus. His head is just about to emerge from the birth canal. Hence, the title’s double entendre, a reference to both the last stage of labor and the passion of Jesus.
Fr. Johann Hintermaier, diocesan vicar for education, art, and culture, conceded that the work was intended to “provoke debate.” Piety or porn? Put plainly, it was a calculated finger in the eye to nonprogressive Catholics in an
