Madonna's 'crucifixion' in Rome irks the Vatican

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Madonna's 'crucifixion' in Rome irks the Vatican

Posted on : 2006-08-07 | Author : Bharat Rathode
News Category : Entertainment






The need to shock is something that Madonna just can't let go of. The singer, on Sunday, in a concert in Rome, emulated a crucifixion, and also symbolically showed a stand-off between Islam and Christianity while performing the song Forbidden Love.

During the song, Madonna danced between two men, one of whom had a Star of David painted on his chest and the other a crescent moon that symbolizes Islam. She also donned a crown made of thorns and was mounted on a cross.

Madonna has earlier been accused of blasphemy by the Vatican, and she irked the Pope further when she invited him for her performance. In her quintessential style, Madonna belted out one controversial imagery after another, symbolically showing the Pope's pictures along with those of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. “Did you know two miracles have taken place in Rome? Italy won the World Cup and the rain stopped before my show,” she quipped to the audience.

Madonna, who abandoned her Catholic upbringing for Judaism offshoot Cabbala, first invited the wrath of the Vatican in 1989, when her song Like a Prayer showed her trying to seduce a black Jesus. The video also had crosses on fire and statues crying tears of blood. Her latest stunt has irked not only Catholic leaders but also Muslim ones.

“It is disrespectful, in bad taste and provocative. Being raised on a cross with a crown of thorns like a modern Christ is absurd. Doing it in the cradle of Christianity comes close to blasphemy,” said Father Manfredo Leone of the Santa Maria Liberatrice church in Rome. “This is a blasphemous challenge to the faith and a profanation of the Cross. She should be excommunicated. To crucify herself in the city of Popes and martyrs is an act of open hostility,” said Vatican Cardinal Ersilio Tonino.

Italy's Muslim League was also behind the Vatican on this one. “I think her idea is in the worst taste and she'd do better to go home,” said Mario Scialoja, who heads the Muslim League in Italy. However, Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg defended the act and said, “The context of Madonna's performance on the crucifix is not negative nor disrespectful toward the church.”

Meanwhile, the outrageous acts have failed to dim the singer's popularity. Over 70,000 fans attended the concert and though some were put off by the crucifixion, most dismissed it as quintessential Madonna. “The crucifixion was unnecessary and provocative. Because this is Rome, I wish she'd cut it out. But it's Madonna, she's an icon, and that balances out her need to provoke,” said Tonia Valerio, a 39-year-old fan.

The venue of the performance, Olympic stadium, is two miles from the Vatican. This is the only Italian stop that Madonna's Confessions tour has.

More fireworks are expected when the Italian-American singer hits Moscow, where religious leaders have urged Christians to boycott the performance. Madonna will be in Moscow on September 11. “This is not the first year this lady has been mixing singing about human passions with Christian symbols – crosses, statues of the Virgin, beads and now it's self crucifixion,” said Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the deputy head of Moscow patriachate foreign relations department. “This means the singer needs spiritual assistance,” he added.
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"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.