May the controversy begin:

Vatican official: Madonna should be EXCOMMUNICATED

The Vatican accused Madonna of blasphemy and profanity today over her controversial stage act.

Senior figures in Rome, where she is to appear in front of 75,000 fans on Sunday, called for her to be excommunicated.

They launched a scathing attack over the star wearing a crown of thorns while hanging from a huge cross as she sings Live To Tell during her Confessions Tour.

Cardinal Ersilio Tonino, speaking with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, said: "This time the limits have really been pushed too far.

"This (concert) is a blasphemous challenge to the faith and a profanation of the cross. She should be excommunicated."

He added: "To crucify herself during the concert in the city of Popes and martyrs is an act of open hostility. It is nothing short of a scandal and an attempt to generate publicity.

"What is really offensive is the exaggeration of it all; it is clearly anti-Church, poor taste and most of all, an insult to Christ.

"The time will come when this woman will realise that Christ died on the cross for her as well, that he spilt his blood for her. I feel pity for her.

"I just want to tell her that she must really have reached rock bottom if she feels that to attract the attention of the media she has to enact Christ's suffering and death on the cross."

Another Vatican official, Bishop Velasio De Paolis, said: " Wizards and satanists use religious objects for black masses and she is simply following them.

"How this woman can take the name of the mother of Christ I don't know. Her show represents the rotten fruit of secularism and the absurdity of evil. What adds to the offence is that she is doing this in the city which is the cradle of the Roman Catholic faith.

"A few months ago there was fury at the cartoons of Mohammed. Here we have a blatant profanity of the cross and no one bats an eyelid."

Madonna, 47, who was brought up a Catholic, said in an interview with the Italian edition of Vanity Fair that her horse riding accident last year brought her closer to God.

She said: "That was the first serious accident of my life, which is strange when you think how long I have been dancing. I was immobile in bed for more than a month. I was covered in bruises and in agony.

"I couldn't use my left arm, my shoulders and the upper part of my body. It made me look at life in a new way. It was as if I had been reborn.

"While I was lying there still, I looked up at the ceiling and promised God, 'I am never going to complain, moan or grumble or be ungrateful again'. " Madonna has insisted that her back-stage dressing room at Rome's Olympic Stadium is decorated completely in white, with white roses and soya snacks.

She has insisted on a new lavatory which must be removed when the concert is over and destroyed so that it does not end up on an internet auction site.

Source: Nick Pisa, Evening Standard (UK)


source: http://www.drownedmadonna...&sid=14825

As i havve said before and i will say it again, Madonna always knows how to push the right buttons.

excommunicated? um.... 2 things: didn't they already do that during the Blond Ambition tour? and.... she's not even a practicing Catholic anymore. I bet she's really shaking in her boots.

though as a die-hard Madonna fan, i think the crown of thorns and cross thing is pretty damned tacky.

"People who understand what I'm doing aren't offended by it"-Madonna, 1989

npgmaverick said:

i understood it, it was something along the lines of this:

Good for Madonna exposing the church as the fraud it is, even though it was unintentional.

It's all about idol worship and nothing to do with faith.

Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg is quoted in today's New York Daily News saying:

"I think the Pope would enjoy the show and would applaud her performance. He has an open invitation to see for himself the eloquence and beauty that Madonna expresses for humanity while performing her poignant song 'Live to Tell.' "

Why does the Catholic Church keep doing this shit? They been doing the same thing with Madonna for nearly 20 years and she doesn't pay them no mind, so what would make them think she'll do it now and why should she? They're just making Madonna even bigger by doing this. It's so stupid and pointless.

Dear God,
Please make Madonna lead us to the promise land of eternal disco and orgies!
Make the sweet sin we make an eternal sodom and gomorrah
Just like Neil Tennant sings!

AMEN!

purplecam said:

The irony is Madonna isn't the first performer to sing on the cross. Marilyn Manson comes to mind, yet no one said anything.

The middle east is blowing up, but the church would much rather waste its time on a pop star.

jayaredee said:

complete BS.


This is getting Old. Isn't she grounded in her faith enough to move on.

jayaredee said:

EXACTLY!!! This is nothing in the grand scheme of what happening in the world today.

purplecam said:

Madonna is the nexus of Comos...the template of all reality!

She's the main bitch of the universe!

Rhondab said:

Please, i've been a Catholic all my life. I know what the church's values are by now. Just read the article.

As a catholic, I was never offended by madonna's actions!

miguelbulcao said:

That's because you've seen the performances and know her viewpoint. These fools haven't even seen her peformance.

jayaredee said:

They just don't get it do they? That was the most spiritual moment of the show.

Just because they hear of a cross, they assume it's "Christ-bashing." Jesus f*ck! (no pun intended)... If I had a nickel for every hipocrite wearing a cross around his neck, I'd be a rich man!

Don't believe the hype people! If you've seen the concert then you know what I'm talking about. It's not about Christ or Catholicism. She's using it for an iconic image in the context of AIDS in Africa.

purpleunderground said:

purplecam said:

Because the Vatican needs something to distract the people from looking at their own transgressions with regards to priests molesting young boys and railing out against contraception being used in poor countries even though AIDS and other diseases are running rampant in those countries and knowing that contraception like condoms will effectively curtail the spread of AIDS.

jayaredee said:

I was raised Catholic as well. My mother's family is Catholic and they are not a bunch of idol worshipers. So now what?

So you read the nonsense of a middle aged woman STILL seeking attention with the same ole gag that it seems ya'll still are buying.

Its really played out. No need to address ppl as fools because they disagree.

Madonna isn't all that deep. Ya'll just bored.
[Edited 8/4/06 19:29pm]

Already a thread http://www.prince.org/msg/8/197919