The deep religious roots of censorship | Letters

Jonathan Jones is missing the bigger picture by concentrating on the gruesome depictions of Christ during the Counter-Reformation (The deep roots of our right to offend, 21 February). This sort of treatment was encouraged by the church precisely to promote the new, flesh-abasing mysticism of a Catholic church desperate to lure the flock back by means of fierce emotionalism. Not for nothing has Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Teresa been described as a magnificent piece of theatre. But the Council o