Even if you aren't religious, the sight is jarring.It also is unavoidable to any man entering the rest room at Sewickley Cafe in Sewickley.
Whether you are approaching the stall or the urinal, it is virtually impossible not to make eye contact with him.
Pope Pius XII, I mean.
The men's room isn't adorned with posters advertising a particular beer or liquor. Instead, it boasts a large portrait of the pope, who headed the Roman Catholic Church from 1939 until his death in 1958.
Approximately 4 feet by 5 feet and hung in an ornate wooden frame, the painting gives the impression that the pope is bestowing his blessing upon whatever is occurring within the confines of the lavatory.
Flush after flush after flush.
You would expect to see such a painting hanging at the Vatican, a Diocesan headquarters or a local church. Frankly, it is surprising to see it in the rest room of a charming BYOB eatery in the heart of Sewickley's business district.
I visited the cafe on Friday after hearing that the nearby St. James Catholic Church had complained about restaurant owner Don Reinhardt Jr.'s choice of art work.
The church pastor, the Rev. Clinton Zadroga, did not respond to several interview requests.
Several people I spoke with on busy Beaver Street near the cafe said they felt it was inappropriate to have a papal presence in the men's room.
"That's just disgusting," opined Terry Braun, of Moon. "Whoever put that up ought to get it out of there and show a little respect for Christianity."
There are other considerations as well.
"When I go in a place to (answer nature's call)," said Joe Peterella, 63, of West Aliquippa, "I just don't want to be staring at the Holy Father."
Reinhardt said he meant no offense by hanging the portrait, which he obtained at a yard sale, in the rest room.
"I thought it would make a great impression on people when they walked in," he said.
That it does.
Reinhardt said Pius complements the lavatory's existing religious decor. The walls are lined with ornate renderings of European cathedral ceilings, and the mirror comes from an old church in Reinhardt's home state of Kentucky.
In the four months that Pius has been in his present location, Reinhardt said he has received exactly one complaint.
"That was from Father Clint," he said. "He's the only man who has had a problem with this."
Because Reinhardt rotates the restaurant's art work, Pius' reign in the rest room will be considerably shorter than was his papacy.
But Reinhardt said that after several patrons told him the painting reminded them that they should get to church, he plans to leave it up a while longer.
"If it reminds people to act more pious or to behave better, couldn't the world use a bit more of that?"
Even Zadroga might have to say "amen" to that.
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