Letters to the editor
Crucified Women
Alexina Murphy, Victoria
Volume 28 Issue 10, 11 & 12 | Posted: December 29, 2014
The Editor:
I am writing to thank you for placing the image of “The Crucified Woman” on the front page of the Autumn 2014 issue of Island Catholic News. The sculpture by Almuth Lutkenhaus has lost none of its power to affect the viewer, to convey in a single glance, the plight of so many women in our world, to stay in the imagination for permanent reference.
I was a theology student in Toronto around 1980, when the statue was first on view at the United Church on Bloor Street during Holy Week. The outcry at the naked female body in a Church setting, its inescapable personification of the crucified Christ, was such that extra volunteers had to be found to cope with an avalanche of phone calls to the Church.
The Editor:
I am writing to thank you for placing the image of “The Crucified Woman” on the front page of the Autumn 2014 issue of Island Catholic News. The sculpture by Almuth Lutkenhaus has lost none of its power to affect the viewer, to convey in a single glance, the plight of so many women in our world, to stay in the imagination for permanent reference.
I was a theology student in Toronto around 1980, when the statue was first on view at the United Church on Bloor Street during Holy Week. The outcry at the naked female body in a Church setting, its inescapable personification of the crucified Christ, was such that extra volunteers had to be found to cope with an avalanche of phone calls to the Church.
I commend you for daring to link ICN with such a poignant but disturbing expression of the sufferings of women. Christian communities do not readily understand that Christ’s cry on the cross is the cry of women as well as men, wherever they are despised and spat upon. The stark discomfort of the woman’s body pierces our hearts, raises our awareness of human misery and deepens our commitment to pursue justice.
Alexina Murphy, Victoria