Pope's Home to Include Historic Marian Mosaic

Some people call the mosaicist a modern—day Michelangelo. But the public may never see the unusual work of an Orthodox Christian laboring away at a Marian mosaic to celebrate the Jubilee Year 2000, according to a report in England's The Guardian (April 18).

The work, made of some 100 million pieces, will adorn a chapel in the most sensitive part of the Vatican: the Apostolic Palace, which houses the Holy Father's apartments.

Said the report, “For the past two years a Russian mosaicist has been working in virtual secrecy in the Vatican to create one of the century's most ambitious works of art.” Photographs of the Redemptoris Mater chapel show that the ceiling and one wall of the large hall have already been completed.

“The Redemptoris Mater chapel combines several of the Pope's favorite themes,” said the report. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to whom he is especially devoted, and takes its name from an encyclical he published in 1987.

“It also reflects his wish to reunite Eastern and Western Europe and heal the breach between Rome and Orthodox Christianity. The artist, Aleksandr Kornoukhov, is an Orthodox Christian and his work is uncompromisingly Eastern in style.”

His mother was also a mosaicist—ironically, she was responsible for much of the art in the Moscow metro celebrating the Soviets, whose empire was toppled in large part by her son's new boss.

Democracy's Big Gains Since John Paul II

Is the Catholic Church “autocratic,” therefore causing Catholic countries to come easily under the sway of dictatorships? Or, is its doctrine socialistic, luring Catholic countries into socialistic totalitarianism?

Democracy rules in Catholic countries and such questions no longer make sense, Adrian Karatnycky points out in National Review magazine (May 4). “Indeed one of the untold stories of the late 20th century is that dictatorship has been virtually eliminated in countries with a Catholic majority.”

“At the center of this dramatic development has been Pope John Paul II. As he has carried out his global pastoral mission over the last 18 years, the Polish Pope has emerged as the world's most important and effective advocate of freedom and democracy.

“When Karol Wojtyla acceded to the pontificate, 22 of 42 countries with a Catholic majority were tyrannies. Most of these dictatorships have now collapsed, including those in Argentina, Chile, the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Hungary, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Poland, the Philippines, and Lithuania. In addition, Mexico is on the verge of completing its democratic transformation, Peru has installed a democracy (although it was briefly interrupted by a martial—law regime), and Croatia has had free elections, though it has not yet completed its transition. Only two Catholic countries unambiguously remain dictatorships: Equatorial Guinea and Cuba.”