Sunday, September 16, 2007

Archbishop's art criticism angers Germans

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, has sparked a row in Germany by calling some modern art "degenerate", a word that evokes the Nazis' attitude to art.

Cardinal Meisner, a close friend of Pope Benedict, could hardly have chosen a more problematic word when he inaugurated the Church's Kolumba Museum of Sacred Art works on Friday.

He warned that when art and worship were estranged culture became "entartete" or degenerate.

That is the word the Nazis used to justify the destruction of thousands of paintings and books and films and the persecution of anyone promoting modern art forms, including jazz.

The culture secretary in the regional government said it was appalling that he had used such a word and showed he knew nothing of art or culture.

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