It is a welcome that the sovereign pontiff probably did not expect. In Lisbon, where Pope Francis is expected as part of World Youth Day (WYD), Portuguese artist Bordalo II pulled out a long red carpet of giant 500 euro banknotes. With this plastic creation entitled March of Shame, the 30-year-old intends to criticize the financing by the Portuguese State of this demonstration. The country, secular and struggling with galloping inflation, agreed to fund a large part of the religious gathering.
In a post on the artist’s social networks, several men can be seen walking around the altar, a rolled up carpet under their arm. It is deployed from the top of the steps and slides down to the ground.
“In a secular state, at a time when many people are fighting to keep their homes, their jobs and their dignity, millions of public funds have been invested to sponsor the tour of the Italian multinational”, regretted the artist on his Instagram account. “I feel the victim of an injustice as a citizen, like many of us. As an artist I have the opportunity to transmit this and to give my voice to people who share this same frustration and sadness”, he writes again.
The cost of the event, which should bring together nearly a million young Catholics, is around 160 million euros, according to the authorities’ own figures presented in January. The costs are borne by the State (to the tune of at least 30 million), by the Catholic Church but also by the three Portuguese town halls which host the event: Lisbon, Loures and Oeiras. Several controversies had already erupted at the beginning of the year, in particular when building an altar in the suburbs of Lisbon. The project, initially estimated at 4.2 million euros, had been revised downwards to cost only 3 million.
However, the pill does not pass to all Portuguese, already faced with the rising cost of living. Especially since WYD is being held at a time when revelations about sexual abuse in the Church are multiplying. According to a survey reported by RFI, 64% of Portuguese were opposed to the financing of the event by the State. The artist wanted to relay this “feeling of injustice”.
