Don Reto Nay

12 787Jan 27, 2016

Rome covers up nude statues for President Rouhani’s visit

Jan 27, 2016

Nude statues in Rome’s Capitoline Museum were masked with white panels for a meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for Italy’s capital said that all decisions regarding the meeting and its settings had been made by Renzi’s office.

In pictures of the meeting, held on Monday, Rouhani and Renzi can be seen talking next to the statue of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

According to the Italian news agency ANSA, the sculptures were covered as a sign of respect for the visiting president.

In a standard diplomatic gesture for visiting Muslim dignitaries, alcoholic beverages were also not served at an official dinner held in Rouhani’s honor.

Rouhani, who arrived in Italy on Monday on the first leg of his trip to three European destinations, has also held talks with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and Pope Francis at the Vatican.

During the closed-door meeting between the Iranian president and the Pope, common spiritual values and the good state of relations between the Holy See and Iran were discussed among other topics.

The meeting included a gift exchange ceremony during which President Rouhani gave the Pope a hand-woven Persian carpet and a book of illustrations by renowned Iranian painter Mahmoud Farshchian. In return, the Pope presented Rouhani with a medallion of St Martin and copies of the Pope’s encyclical on the environment, in English and Arabic.

According to the Catholic News Service, at the end of the meeting the Pope thanked Rouhani for his visit, adding that he has “high hopes in peace,” in reply to which Rouhani asked the pontiff to pray for him.

presstv.com/…/italy-rome-stat…

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Uncle Joe

Jan 29, 2016

Abramo

Jan 29, 2016

@Uncle Joe: It was the Council of Trent that (rightly so) came to the conclusion that Ecclesiastical art had better things to do than to depict butts and boobs. One can call nudity "art" but it still remains nudity and Rouhani is perfectly entitled not to put up with this.

Uncle Joe

Jan 28, 2016

Dear Abramo,
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A related story is that Michelangelo retaliated against one of his genitalia critics, Blagio da Casena, by placing him in the underworld with ass's ears and a snake nibbling at his genitalia. Blagiio complained but the pope at the time, Paul III, said he had no jurisdiction in the underworld so the depiction would have to remain.

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However, things changed when Paul IV took over.…More

Dear Abramo,
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A related story is that Michelangelo retaliated against one of his genitalia critics, Blagio da Casena, by placing him in the underworld with ass's ears and a snake nibbling at his genitalia. Blagiio complained but the pope at the time, Paul III, said he had no jurisdiction in the underworld so the depiction would have to remain.

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However, things changed when Paul IV took over. He was not so indulgent. The Vatican objected to the nudity in The Last Judgement. So, Paul IV "the Great Inquisitor" ordered Danny to cover the 'offending genitalia.' in Michelangelo's painting. The painter was then known as "Il Braghettone" ("the breeches maker").
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So, you see, Daniele was just "following orders." It would not be wise to cross the "Great Inquisitor."

Abramo

Jan 28, 2016

@Uncle Joe: Daniele da Volterra was the painter who did for the Pope what Italy did for Rouhani: He covered the genitals of the figures on Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sixtine Chapel with underpants.

Uncle Joe

Jan 27, 2016

International affairs can make for strange bedfellows. Who would have thought that there could be cooperation between Syria and the U.S. Yet, there is. And there is France and Russia. Not friends but they have a common enemy. Therefore there is cooperation.
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During WWII and despite there differences, there was cooperation between the Allies and the Ruskies in order to defeat Hitler.
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There are …More

International affairs can make for strange bedfellows. Who would have thought that there could be cooperation between Syria and the U.S. Yet, there is. And there is France and Russia. Not friends but they have a common enemy. Therefore there is cooperation.
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During WWII and despite there differences, there was cooperation between the Allies and the Ruskies in order to defeat Hitler.
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There are many more examples but where these alliances good and holy according to a strict Catholic point of view? That was not the issue. The issue is do and did these partnerships work together to combat a greater common enemy.
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Iran, represented by Rouhani, is not a friend of the West nor of Christains. Just wait till he gets the bomb. The Obama Administration, of course, loves him and the Italians cover art work out of deference. Follow the money.

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Daniele da Volterra was a talented painter favored by Michelangelo but I guess there's more to his story?

Don Reto Nay

Jan 27, 2016

@Uncle Joe: You write "covering art work in a Roman Museum is a capitulation to an evil regime". Interesting. Do you know the name of Daniele da Volterra? If you don't, you should...

Don Reto Nay

Jan 27, 2016

@Uncle Joe: No, there is no common ground between Christians and somebody you calls the murdering of innocent children a "human right". You could rather believe that there is a common ground between the Church and National Socialism or the Church and Communism.

Uncle Joe

Jan 27, 2016

One could make the same charges against the U.N. and the U.S. State Dept. They all have 'skeletons in their closet.' However, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Therefore, two opposing parties (i.e. Amnesty and Christians) can work together in exposing and fighting a common enemy. In this case, Iran. Covering art work in a Roman Museum is a capitulation to an evil regime.

Don Reto Nay

2Jan 27, 2016

Well, If a "human rights organization" considers abortion to be a "human right" than the squirrel is not only blind but dead as a doornail. No, Amnesty International.

Uncle Joe

Jan 27, 2016

Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile. Amnesty and others are right about the abuses occurring in Iran.
www.washingtontimes.com/…/iran-human-righ…

Don Reto Nay

Jan 27, 2016

@Uncle Joe: Amnesty International? These are the guys who tell us that aborting babies is a human right? Right?

Uncle Joe

Jan 27, 2016

By the time Rouhani gets back to Iran, his stooges will have a few homos ready to be thrown off of buildings, young female children ready to be married to lecherous adults and hundreds more Christians about to be slaughtered. Yet, the blind appeasers cover nude art work for this 'sensitive' murderer?
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"According to Amnesty International and other respected human rights organizations, the human …More

By the time Rouhani gets back to Iran, his stooges will have a few homos ready to be thrown off of buildings, young female children ready to be married to lecherous adults and hundreds more Christians about to be slaughtered. Yet, the blind appeasers cover nude art work for this 'sensitive' murderer?
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"According to Amnesty International and other respected human rights organizations, the human rights situation in Iran is fast deteriorating under Rouhani. There have been some 2,000 executions in Iran in the two years that Rouhani has been in office, more than in any similar period in the past 25 years. Iran holds the record of having the most executions per capita in the world, and is the biggest executioner of juvenile offenders.
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"On July 23, Amnesty International provided a shocking report on “Iran’s staggering execution spree.” It said nearly 700 were put to death in Iran in just over six months. This is equivalent to executing more than three people per day. At this shocking pace, Iran is set to exceed 1,000 executions for the year, far surpassing the total number of executions recorded by Amnesty International for the country in 2014.
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“Iran’s staggering execution toll for the first half of this year paints a sinister picture of the machinery of the state carrying out premeditated, judicially-sanctioned killings on a mass scale,” the report declared. And it is not just killing that Iranians have to work about. Inhuman and degrading punishments like amputation and gouging out eyes have also been on the rise."
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