Thessaloniki: Outcry at Event Featuring Artist Christoforos Katsadiotis – ‘Your Work Offends the Virgin Mary’

Tension erupted on Friday afternoon (16.05.25) in Thessaloniki when members of various church organizations and priests staged a protest during a seminar featuring renowned artist Christoforos Katsadiotis as the keynote speaker. The event, held for educators and art professors at Neapolis in Thessaloniki, saw intense disruption led by the protesters who held crosses, icons of saints, and banners displaying the image of the Virgin Mary. They shouted slogans directly at the artist, accusing his works of offending and insulting the Virgin Mary. Katsadiotis, whose artworks were previously vandalized at the National Gallery by former MP Nikos Papadopoulos, chose not to respond or react to the protesters’ chants. To prevent further escalation and direct confrontation with the crowd, the speaker was forced to relocate to an adjacent room within the theater.