You may recall last year when I posted about Brazilian Gil Vicente, who created a fair amount of controversy with a drawing of himself pointing a pistol at Pope Benedict XVI, that went on display at the Sao Paulo Art Biennial.

In that series, Vicente was shown assassinating nine different world leaders.

“Because they kill so many other people, it would be a favour to kill them, understand?” said Vicente of his series, titled Inimigos (Enemies). “Why don’t people in power and in the elite die?”

Well, it seems the trend in anti-Pope artwork is catching on.

A Toronto exhibit opening Feb. 5 at the Bezpala Brown Gallery, will feature a piece of art by Peter Alexander Por depicting a portrait of Pope Benedict XVI riddled with bullet holes.

The exhibit is titled “Persona Non Grata – The Veil of History,” and is intended to portray, “the story of oppression, pain, suffering, persecution and death.”

The art gallery described the piece as “a less than subtle expression of the hurt and anger directed at a pontiff and an institution that has abandoned its flock, choosing to focus on dogma while its subjects suffer and, in many instances, die from its archaic policies.”

Meanwhile, the exhibit will also feature artwork of President Barack Obama, who is depicted nailed to a cross. The gallery description of this piece says that he is “a victim, crucified in the wake of special and distorted interests.”

The message of the artwork seems unmistakable: “Obama is, like Christ, an innocent victim. The Pope, meanwhile, is the worthy recipient of the hatred and vitriol aimed at the Church.”