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    • Pope makes landmark visit to Venice Biennale and proclaims that 'the world needs artists'

    Pope Francis waves to faithful during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 29, 2023. Pope Francis went to a Rome hospital on Wednesday for some previously scheduled tests, slipping out of the Vatican after his general audience and before the busy start of Holy Week this Sunday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Pope Francis waves to faithful during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 29, 2023. Pope Francis went to a Rome hospital on Wednesday for some previously scheduled tests, slipping out of the Vatican after his general audience and before the busy start of Holy Week this Sunday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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    Venice, Italy -

     Pope Francis has become the first pontiff to visit Venice鈥檚 contemporary art festival during a trip which saw him visit a female prison and rehabilitate the reputation of a pioneering American nun artist.

    The 87-year-old Pope traveled to the northeastern Italian city by helicopter on April 28, touching down at the prison on Giudecca Island in the Venetian lagoon which has been taken over by the Holy See for the eight-month-long biennale.

    Curated by Chiara Parisi and Bruno Racine, the pavilion 鈥 titled 鈥淐on i miei occhi鈥 (which translates as 鈥淲ith my eyes鈥) 鈥 reflects the Pope鈥檚 concern for society鈥檚 outsiders, especially prisoners, and includes works from several female artists. Francis began his Venice trip by greeting each of the approximately 80 inmates in the prison courtyard, several of whom are involved in the exhibition.

    Poetry from some inmates has been placed on the walls of the prison, while others act in a short film by Italian director Marco Perego and his wife, actor Zoe Salda帽a, a star of the 鈥淎vatar鈥 films. (Saldana plays a prisoner on the day of her release alongside other inmates.)

    鈥淧aradoxically, a stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new鈥s symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting,鈥 Francis told them. 鈥淟et us not forget that we all have mistakes to be forgiven for and wounds to be healed 鈥 me too.鈥

    Afterwards, in the prison chapel, the Pope met artists involved in the biennale and the Holy See pavilion, where he told them their work can help tackle racism, xenophobia, ecological 鈥渋mbalance,鈥 鈥渇ear of the poor鈥 and inequality.

    鈥淭he world needs artists,鈥 he stressed.

    His meeting with them also marked a rehabilitation for Corita Kent, known as the 鈥減op art nun,鈥 whose works are included in the Holy See pavilion but who in the past faced resistance from a powerful cardinal. During his speech, the pope singled out Kent 鈥 along with Frida Kahlo and Louise Bourgeois 鈥 as female artists whose works have 鈥渟omething important to teach us.鈥

    Kent, a religious sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary community in Los Angeles who later left the order, was renowned for her colorful screen-prints which raised awareness of racial injustice and championed civil rights. But in the late 1950s and 60s, her progressive religious order clashed with the then Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles, James McIntyre, who took a particular dislike to some of Kent鈥檚 art, calling it blasphemous.

    Although he has struggled with bouts of ill health in recent months, Francis seemed animated and engaged while in Venice on a trip that lasted just five hours and was jam-packed with events. At one point, he joked with a local journalist about the weather and said that every time he goes to a prison he asks: 鈥渨hy them and not me?鈥

    Francis traveled around Venice on a motorboat, an open-air golf buggy with the Holy See coat of arms emblazoned on it and his wheelchair, something which he is increasingly using due to mobility difficulties.

    Along with the trip to the female prison, Francis also held a meeting with young people, presided at an open-air Mass in St. Mark鈥檚 Square, led the Sunday midday prayer, and prayed in front of the relics of Saint Mark in the basilica.

    During his homily, he warned against the threats Venice faces including from climate change, saying that rising sea levels mean the city 鈥渕ay cease to exist鈥 and talked about the need for 鈥渁dequate tourism management.鈥 His visit comes just days after Venice began charging day-trippers an entry fee.

    The Vatican first entered a pavilion for the biennale in 2013, but this is the first time it has shown at a prison. The 2024 pavilion was commissioned by its culture office, which is led by the Portuguese prelate, Cardinal Jos茅 Tolentino de Mendon莽a, an award-winning poet. The cardinal explained that the pavilion is an attempt to involve visitors 鈥渄irectly in reality.鈥

    As it is a working prison, those who visit the Holy See pavilion have to hand in their cell phones, while the fa莽ade of the building is covered with a mural of the soles of two dirty feet by Maurizio Cattelan, who is known for his sculpture of Pope John Paul II being hit by a meteorite.

    The Venice Biennale was first held in 1895 and takes place every other year, with each country having their own pavilion (the Vatican is the world鈥檚 smallest sovereign territory). For 2024, it has taken the theme 鈥淔oreigners Everywhere鈥 and seeks to highlight artists from marginalized backgrounds.

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