Vatican's Strong Message to Environmental Protesters: Legal Consequences for Art Attacks

The Vatican wants to send a rather strong and clear global message to all environmentalists who intend to protest against climate change by resorting to striking gestures against the works of art preserved in the small pontifical state. It can be very costly. The Vatican court's Court of Appeals confirmed the conviction of June 12th for the two activists of the Last Generation to nine months, with a suspended sentence, and 28,148 euros in damages, plus court and registry expenses, for the protest that took place in the Vatican Museums in August 2022. The two activists had glued themselves with Attack adhesive to the precious marble base supporting the 'Laocoon and his Sons'. A striking gesture, filmed and broadcast worldwide to capture attention on global warming, sparking an inevitable debate on whether it can be considered mere vandalism, or a non-violent protest justified by a catastrophic perspective for humanity. 'Ester and I took this action driven by love and care, absolutely without violence. What is violence? Is it remaining indifferent in the face of devastation, or is it seeking a way to draw attention so that the disaster can be contained? We never intended to cause damage, but to sound an alarm,' said activist Ester Goffi. Ester Goffi, a 28-year-old art history student, and Guido Viero, a 62-year-old healthcare worker during the first hearings in the first instance had explained to the Vatican magistrates that they only wanted to urge world leaders to act against climate change, while a friend of theirs filmed them with a mobile phone. The statue was not too damaged even if the cleaning of the marble due to the synthetic glue permeated was not an easy task. The head of restoration, Guy Devereux, explained how a week of work was necessary, 'less than expected', to restore the base, made in 1815, which the Vatican Museums still consider an integral part of the sculptural group. However, according to Devereux, the surface in the points where the glue was placed was stained, 'whitened and corroded' and was retouched 'to make the color uniform'. For everyone, the charge was vandalism. The activists belong to the 'Last Generation' movement responsible for several acts of damage to important artistic and historical sites in Italy. They had targeted precisely that work: 'because Laocoon tried to warn his fellow citizens of Troy about the misfortune that was about to happen and was not listened to. We also want to open eyes, but the world does not understand that if we do not change course, we are heading towards catastrophe.' In a statement, the Last Generation movement considers 'the Vatican City's harassment of climate activists a surprise'. However, the movement continues, 'to recognize in the role of Pope Francis one of the most courageous and unconventional voices regarding the sensitization of people to the climate emergency.'