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Joanne McGarry, executive director of the Catholic Civil Rights League, called the exhibit������Ƶapp message “very insulting, very misleading and inaccurate.”

“Showing a bullet-ridden image of an identifiable public figure could be incitement to violence,” McGarry said.

But Por told The Register the portrait is not riddled with bullet holes. Rather, he explained the 37 holes, including one over the Pope������Ƶapp left eye, and a hole at the edge of his right sleeve and another on his chest below his heart, which both hold up a blue rosary given to Por by his mother, represent a “visual pun” on the Pope as a “holey” man.
         

“In a way, I’m a court jester. I’ve told the Pope his story about the sex abuse is full of nonsense or gaps, and those are holes,” the 66-year-old artist said.

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI apologized to victims of the abuse and said the perpetrators “violated the sanctity of the sacrament of Holy Orders.”

The Pope is lumped in with a series of 30 portraits and four sculptures featuring evil leaders like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein, who were responsible for the deaths of millions of people, Por said.

Brown said the press release was intended to be controversial.

“Most people looking at this are immediately going to assume that it������Ƶapp bullet holes and I thought if I put that out up front, it would certainly generate a reaction, there������Ƶapp no question about that,” he said.

But McGarry found this marketing tool objectionable.

“People who exploit the scandal for promotional scandal is a disgrace. It������Ƶapp not doing anything for victims,” she said.

Brown insisted the exhibit is not about attacking a religious leader but about “freedom of expression.” Yet Por and Brown, both ex-Catholics, spent much of the interview criticizing the Pope������Ƶapp integrity and leadership, the Church and its teachings on contraception and priestly celibacy.