Angels and of all Saints, should be venerated and saluted. And if anyone
does not so believe, but undertakes to debate the matter further and is evil
affected with regard to the veneration due the sacred images, such an one
our holy ecumenical council (fortified by the inward working of the Spirit
of God, and by the traditions of the Fathers and of the Church)
anathematizes. Now anathema is nothing less than complete separation
from God…And in taking pleasure at the insults which are offered to the
Church, they clearly show themselves to be of those who madly make war
upon piety, and are therefore to be regarded as in the same category with
the heretics of old times, and their companions and brethren in
ungodliness.”
Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566)
Pt. III, Ch. II: Let no one think that this Commandment entirely forbids
the arts of painting, engraving or sculpture. The Scriptures inform us that
God Himself commanded to be made images of Cherubim, and also the
brazen serpent. The interpretation, therefore, at which we must arrive, is
that images are prohibited only inasmuch as they are used as deities to
receive adoration, and so to injure the true worship of God.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992)
No. 1159:
The sacred image, the liturgical icon, principally represents
Christ. It cannot represent the invisible and incomprehensible God, but the
incarnation of the Son of God has ushered in a new “economy” of images:
“Previously God, who has neither a body nor a face, absolutely could
not be represented by an image. But now that he has made himself
visible in the flesh and has lived with men, I can make an image of
what I have seen of God...and contemplate the glory of the Lord, his
face unveiled”: (St. John Damascene, De Imag. 1, 16).
No. 1161:
All the signs in the liturgical celebrations are related to
Christ: as are sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints as
well. They truly signify Christ, who is glorified in them. They make
manifest the “cloud of witnesses” who continue to participate in the
salvation of the world and to whom we are united, above all in sacramental
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