Che Jesus is an image depicting

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

in the style of Jim Fitzpatrick's iconic two-tone portrait of

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

, which is itself based upon Alberto Korda's iconic ''

Guerrillero Heroico ''Guerrillero Heroico'' (, ) is a photograph of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara taken by Alberto Korda. It was captured on 5 March 1960, in Havana, Cuba, at a memorial service for victims of the ''La Coubre'' explosion. By the end of the ...

'' photo.

Background

The image was created by Chas Bayfield, Martin Casson and Trevor Webb for the Churches Advertising Network (CAN) in the UK, who used it to encourage

church attendance Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday). The Catholic Church teaches that on Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithf ...

for

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

1999. The poster used the slogan: 'Meek. Mild. As If. Discover the real Jesus. Church. April 4.'''Jesus sheds 'wimpish' persona in a revolutionary makeover.'' ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. 6 January 1999 50,000 leaflets were distributed to churches across the UK and posters were put up at bus shelters, railway stations and hoardings. BBC News website.
7 January 1999 The artwork for the poster was created by photocopying a painting of Christ on to acetate and laying this over a copy of Korda's photo. By tracing over the two faces, a composite face was created. This was then traced again and inked in to create a black and white copy. This was scanned in to an

Apple Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

, the background changed to red and the type added by Matt McMullen. The launch of the Che Jesus image became international news and it later appeared in the 2000 exhibition ''Seeing Salvation'' in London's

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, was featured in the Faith Zone in the

Millennium Dome The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millen ...

, and appeared in the 2006 ''Che Guevara: Revolutionary and Icon'' exhibition at the

V&A Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

Controversy

The image was met with anger by conservative church members and some politicians who condemned the marketing strategy as blasphemous for using a "violent Communist and atheist" to promote Jesus. Tory MP

Ann Widdecombe Ann Noreen Widdecombe (born 4 October 1947) is a British politician and television personality who has been Reform UK's Immigration and Justice spokesperson since 2023. Originally a member of the Conservative Party, she was Member of Parliame ...

, who converted from the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

some years previously, said: "We should be modelling ourselves on

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, not modelling Christ on us." Former Tory MP Harry Greenway, sponsor of the

Conservative Christian Fellowship The Conservative Christian Fellowship (CCF) is an organisation working within the British Conservative Party. Established in 1990 by Tim Montgomerie and David Burrowes, while they were students at Exeter University, the organisation supports ...

, described the poster as "grossly sacrilegious" and demanded that those responsible for it should be excommunicated. He threatened to protest to the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, Dr

George Carey George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells. During his time as archbishop the C ...

, in the "strongest possible language". American commentator

George Will George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian conservative writer and political commentator. He writes columns for ''The Washington Post'' on a regular basis and provides commentary for '' NewsNation''. In 1986, ''The Wall ...

dismissed the campaign as "symptomatic of a silliness that respects no borders". The

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

, the Right Reverend

Stephen Sykes Stephen Whitefield Sykes (1 August 1939 – 24 September 2014) was a Church of England bishop and academic specialising in divinity. He was Van Mildert Professor of Divinity at Durham University from 1974 to 1985, and Regius Professor of Divini ...

, defended the campaign and rejected accusations that it was blasphemous. He said: "The intention of the advertisement is to cause remark," he said. "It has been successful." He added: "While an analogy is implicitly drawn between the revolution of a political leader and that of Jesus, it is not said or implied that Jesus was a political revolutionary or would have endorsed the actions of

."''Bishop backs church ad campaign.''

Cambridge Evening News The ''Cambridge News'' (formerly the ''Cambridge Evening News'') is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Milton base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average daily c ...

. 9 January 1999. The Reverend Tom Ambrose, a member of CAN and Director of Communications for the

Diocese of Ely The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely. There is one suffragan bishop, suffragan (subordinate) bishop, the Bisho ...

, said the poster was designed to make people think about Christianity. He said: "We want people to realise that Jesus is not a wimp in a white nightie or someone who is a bit of a walkover, but a strong, revolutionary figure."

References

{{reflist 1999 works Jesus in art Cultural depictions of Che Guevara Obscenity controversies in painting Obscenity controversies in photography Christianity-related mass media and entertainment controversies Advertising and marketing controversies Easter 1999 controversies Christian mass media in the United Kingdom 1999 in Christianity