Covid Art 58: Taking Communion

I like to visit churches and monasteries all over Europe because they bring me closer to my mother (now deceased) who was Catholic. Smelling incense brings me back to times when, as a child, I accompanied her to confession or to take communion. So the architecture of Western Europe’s churches is very familiar to me. Catholicism is not part of my personal spiritual journey, but I appreciate the architecture and serenity that churches afford casual tourists in Porto or such as myself. Years ago, when I made this print, the newspaper articles about sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic churches in America were first being published. The power of the stone arches in contrast to the young girl in lace illustrated the lopsidedness of the abuse. The profound betrayal of children’s trust affected me deeply.