ROC rep explains why in Russia they'll never portray Christ as a black man
Archpriest Leonid Kalinin commented on the painting with the "black Christ" placed in solidarity with the BLM movement in St. Alban's Cathedral in England.
The image of black Jesus Christ contradicts church canons and "it won't happen in Russia", said Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, the head of the Expert Council of the Russian Orthodox Church for Church Art, Architecture and Restoration, in a comment to RIA Novosti.
"Christ wasn't an African American, was he? said the ROC clergyman. “So this is an image of another person. Apparently, for the sake of political expediency, they are trying to show in this way their hypertrophied, groundless, totally inappropriate position towards African Americans".
According to him, one can portray anyone and anything, "but it will be impossible to call it Christ”.
"It won't happen in Russia. Because we follow the strict canons of the Church. And they have not adhered to them for a long time. Therefore, it is natural that they can try to depict anyone in any form, but it will not correspond to the truth," said the head of the Expert Council of the ROC for Church Art.
We recall that on July 4, 2020, a painting of the Last Supper featuring a black Jesus replaced a Nativity scene at St Albans Cathedral (Hertfordshire County, England) to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter., shortly after Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury urged the Church of England to review the image of Christ as a white man.
