I read that the New York Post has internationalized the controversy over the “gay Christ” poster (so named by the media) that announces this year’s Holy Week in Seville. The poster truly is as awful as the excessive controversy that has arisen. I will try to explain. The artist has defended himself, labeling old-fashioned those of us who think that the majestic Sevillian Holy Week, which revolves around Crist, does not deserve such a distasteful poster, which revolves around a singular artist, who perhaps should never have taken on the commission to do it. He might have been trying to offend us, but I’m quite happy to be called old-fashioned. It’s true: We Christians are ancient, as ancient as his poster’s protagonist, and we do just fine. Nothing scares me more than a Christian who presumes to be modern.

The artist says that the Christ of his poster has all the elements that have been used for centuries in works of sacred art. And that is true. But neither should he take us for fools: Along with those elements, there exists a note of erotic realism that is not only inappropriate but also a complete departure from the figure of the bruised and suffering Christ of the Passion. The hand gesture, pointing toward himself, is even more unfortunate, although I am not sure if this is another crude attempt at provocation or if the artist is simply unaware of the most elementary religious concepts, in which case he should have turned down the offer to take charge of the poster. Even so, what angers me most about this matter is that more is being said about the painter than about the protagonist of Holy Week: Jesus. 

‘Gay Christ’ poster sparks outcry in Spain as some say depiction of Jesus looks ‘homoerotic’ https://t.co/Qz7uSpQmYR pic.twitter.com/AQeqJ1XAyL

— New York Post (@nypost) February 2, 2024

The poster was commissioned by the Consejo General de Cofradías de Semana Santa (General Council of Brotherhoods of Holy Week), so we can’t even blame it on any politician — although the mayor of Seville (pertaining to the PP, the main center-right party in Spain) has already hastened to say that he “like[s] the poster.” There are people who insist on squandering the best opportunities to exercise the noble art of keeping their damn mouths shut. Otherwise, there is nothing more boring and predictable than an artist who thinks there is something artistic in mere provocation. Most provocative artists end up being provocateurs but not artists.

The news spread by the New York Post and also by the Associated Press does a lot of damage to the Holy Week of Seville, which is a cultural heritage for all of humanity and one of the most beautiful celebrations of popular religious fervor in the Western Catholic universe. Obviously, the celebration is also a worldwide tourist attraction, but if you have ever been, you’ll have seen clearly that there is no imposture: People travel from all over the world to attend because the Sevillians themselves experience it with active and sincere faith. (READ MORE: The Whole Ugly Hustle of Globalism: Itxu Díaz’s I Will Not Eat Crickets)

In times like ours, in the midst of a full pandemic of Western de-Christianization, it is more important than ever to preserve these strongholds from ages past, when the simple faith of the people could be plainly expressed in the streets, when both the most and the least faithful kneel to the passage of beautiful images parading in procession through the neighborhoods of Seville, a city with which I am in love. 

The poster, in essence, is garbage, and the proof is that it has offended the sensibility of many good people. But it is unfair that the artist’s eagerness to draw attention to himself, and the incompetence of those who gave approval to the poster, should end up overshadowing the wonderful Sevillian Holy Week. Throughout all of Spain its processions are celebrated with great popular fervor. Seville is the biggest, but many other towns and cities keep religious and popular Holy Week programs where art, faith, tradition, and beauty shine, at least for seven days, on every corner and in every street. No sectarian politician, nor communist government, nor idiot reformer has been capable of ruining the Spanish Holy Week. Neither will a crappy poster. 

Just like when we were children, as always, this year we will once again experience, even if it is in our hearts, even if it is far from Seville, a beautiful Holy Thursday of light and prayer, an exciting procession of the Madrugá (daybreak), to give glory to Christ the King, and also to remember what we were, what we are, and what we will be, always at the feet of the venerated image of Our Lady of Hope Macarena. 

Translated by Joel Dalmau.

Buy Itxu Díaz’s new book, I Will Not Eat Crickets: An Angry Satirist Declares War on the Globalist Elite, here today!