Pope warns against commercialization of art

Pope Francis has warned against the excessive commercialization of art and the destructive impact of the market on creativity during a speech to artists at the Venice Art Biennale. "Certainly, the market promotes and canonizes, but there is always the risk that it 'vampirizes' creativity, robs innocence and ends up deciding coldly what is to be done," the leader of the Catholic Church said in a speech on Sunday. "Today it is more necessary than ever to make a clear distinction between art and the market." Shortly beforehand, Pope Francis met with around 80 prisoners in the women's prison on th...