How Political Cartoons Parodize the Church

An Analysis of a Political Cartoon in the Washington Post
In the political cartoon depicted in Figure 1 below, Signe Wilkinson, editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post, uses a religiously inspired triptych design to show a sexual abuse victim, the predatory clergy member perpetrating the offense and the blind eye being turned toward the affair in a sequential fashion to emphasize the ongoing controversy rocking the Catholic Church. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the techniques used, points made, and what lessons can be learned from this cartoon. In addition, a discussion concerning the use of colors and their meaning as well as the ironic language used is followed by a summary of the analysis in the conclusion.
Fig 1. Political Cartoon by Signe Wilkinson August 20, 2018
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/Zr8U9ZErYxEP_MFzKtIiEptxNR4=/ 1024x0/arc-
Review and Analysis
In the political cartoon depicted in Figure 1 above, Wilkinson uses a triptych (a work of art that is divided into three sections) that has long been used by the Catholic Church to portray biblical scenes of significance (Mazzani 74) to communicate the message that the church has too often failed to protect its most vulnerable parishioners from the sexual predation of its clergy. Certainly, few Americans want to hear the terms “sex scandal” and “church” used together, but the headlines have been replete with such accounts for many years now, and the church appears to be unwilling or unable to adequately address the problem. Indeed, the problem is pervasive throughout the Catholic Church but it has been exacerbated by the active intervention of the church’s leadership. In this regard, Wasserman emphasizes that a report from 2002 found that, “Supervisory priests--church officials who supervise lower-ranking priests--concealed reports of sexual abuse by lower-ranking priests and created substantial risks of sexual abuse to children” (1149)..
To her credit, Wilkinson’s use of different main colors in each of the triptych’s panels highlights the fundamental cause of the problem, with the first panel including a stained glass window behind a fleeing victim, the blue robes of a Catholic priest, and the final panel clearly showing the church’s leadership decked in their finest robes hiding their faces in their hands rather than acknowledge the problem. The artist’s use of language is also telling since there are no verbal exchanges in the comic strip itself but only the caption which reads, “The stains on the stained glass windows.” The use of the religiously inspired triptych design, stained glass windows and the caption are all ironic commentaries concerning the ugly realities of the sexual scandals taking place in the Catholic Church today.
Conclusion
In a recent political cartoon, Signe Wilkinson provides a timely commentary concerning the ongoing sexual scandal involving juvenile victims that continues to tarnish the image of the Catholic Church. The artist’s message was reinforced by the clever and ironic use of the religiously inspired triptych design, the artful use of colors and the comic’s caption. These elements combined to create an evocative political cartoon that should serve as a wake-up call for the church’s leadership as well as parishioners who entrust their children to the tender mercies of the Catholic Church today.
Works Cited
Mazzoni, Cristina. “A Roman Triptych of Holy Women.” Magistra. vol. 22, no. 1, Summer 2016, pp. 73-77.
Wasserman, Benjamin D. “Searching for Adequate Accountability: Supervisory Priests and the Church's Child Sex Abuse Crisis.” Duke Law Journal, vol. 66, no. 5, pp. 1149-1153.