Painting depicts Jesus in hoodie and jeans with Pope Francis and two same-sex couples
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An openly-homosexual Jesuit priest is receiving rave reviews from pro-LGBTQ+ Catholic campaigners after painting a picture of Jesus in a hoodie and jeans surrounded by two same-sex couples.
The provocative painting by Fr. William Hart McNichols portrays Pope Francis in the foreground washing the feet of a "black" Jesus who has a halo of the light around his head.
Jesus and the same-sex couples form a semicircle around Pope Francis, looking with intent at the pontiff's action of washing the Master's feet.
Instead of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples as in the original foot-washing narrative in John's gospel, Fr. McNichols has the pro-gay pontiff, who is dressed in a simple alb, kissing Jesus' feet after he has washed them.
In McNichols' painting, the foot-washing scene takes place not on Maundy Thursday but after his resurrection, with Jesus displaying the wounds on his hands and feet.
FATHER JAMES MARTIN COMMISSIONS PAINTING
The painting was commissioned by the pro-gay Outreach ministry, led by notorious Jesuit homosexualist campaigner Fr. James Martin, for the LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Conference held at Jesuit-run Georgetown University from August 2-4.
Father McNichols was one of the keynote speakers at the conference, along with Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, a liberal Jewish scholar. Cardinal Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington celebrated Mass for the participants, and Pope Francis sent a handwritten letter of blessing endorsing the conference.
When asked to "create an image for LGBTQ people and the Outreach Conference, I thought first of Jesus washing their feet," the iconographer recounts.
"Then another idea emerged, of Jesus sitting with them, and Pope Francis washing the feet of Jesus and his outcast followers," he revealed. "If you asked me to create an image that symbolically defined Pope Francis's papacy, I'd immediately answer with foot washing."
"This painting is set in the cosmos, because the acceptance of LGBTQ people remains still in the present and into the future – something to come. I got this idea during a penance service at our church here in Albuquerque," McNichols explains.
POPE FRANCIS' OUTREACH TO HOMOSEXUALS
Father James Martin elaborated on the significance of portraying Pope Francis at the center of the painting:
"And, of course, Francis's outreach to the LGBTQ community is well known. Most recently, he sent greetings to the Outreach 2024 conference, promising that he was 'united in prayer' with participants," Martin added.
JESUIT ARTIST'S 'COMING OUT'
The openly-gay priest says that he had his "Jesuit provincial's permission in 1989 to write an essay about my coming-out experience in a book published by New Ways Ministry."
McNichols continues:
"A wise older priest-mentor once told me, right before my ordination, 'The best thing you can do for the gay community is to be a healthy, continually creative, compassionate, openly gay man.' I've tried to do this for 43 years," the Jesuit priest adds.
McNICHOLS' PAINTING OF 'THE EPIPHANY'
McNichols has also painted other homosexual-related themes, including his first painting about AIDS, called "The Epiphany: Wisemen Bring Gifts to the Child."
The painting depicts Mary who, according to the artist, "wasn't white or wearing white," with the infant Jesus. Both are seated on a rainbow-colored throne.
McNichols' portrayal of Jesus is "like one of those kids who reaches out to everyone, not knowing who is good, indifferent or bad," the artist explains. "He just wants to hug everyone."
In front of the Madonna and Child, the artist has painted St. Francis of Assisi holding a gay man being administered droplets of orange juice by his lover, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga holding a heterosexual man who has contracted AIDS through a needle infection.
Over St. Francis is a glowing ring of the Crown of Thorns, with signs of hope, called wishbones, falling down upon them. Over St. Aloysius are three lilies, Catholic symbols of purity, in flames; we all become purified through fire.
In 2002, Time magazine named McNichols "among the most famous creators of Christian iconic images in the world."
Dr. Jules Gomes, (BA, BD, MTh, PhD), has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.
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