Madonna�s concert crucifixion draws ire.
- Aug 4, 2006
AceShowbiz - What is it about Madonna that's so hot? It's none other than her concert crucifixion. The singer's plan to sing while hanging from cross has draw Rome's Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders mad that they banded together to stop Madonna for moving forward with plans to perform a mock-crucifixion at her stage show there on Sunday August 6th.
The 47-year-old pop diva wears a crown of thorns and sings while hanging from a cross on her "Confessions" world tour. And by now on, Madonna has planned to repeat the scene for her upcoming gig, takes place in Rome's Olympic stadium, some two miles from the Vatican.
Surely opposed her act, Father Manfredo Leone of Rome's Santa Maria Liberatice church told Reuters "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" while claiming such action as "disrespectful, in bad taste and provocative."
Apart from the opposition, Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, defends her client, saying "Madonna does not think Jesus would be mad at her, as his teaching of loving thy neighbor and tolerance is Madonna's message as well. The context of Madonna's performance on the crucifix is not negative nor disrespectful toward the church."
Tickets for the Rome concert, however, were selling quickly, with only about 100 left by Thursday August 3rd, news agency ANSA reported.
