PHOTOS of women posing sexily as nuns have caused outrage among religious groups in Spain.

Obscenity, an exhibition of 50 provocative images, includes Spanish actress Rossy de Palma  in a black and white habit and see-through corset with a rosary between her teeth.

Other images include Alaska, a well known singer in Spain, dressed as a sexy saint in black with a communion wafer on her tongue.

The controversial show, at the Fresh Gallery in Madrid, has led to calls from Catholic groups including the Eucharistic Ministry for demonstrations ‘against blasphemy’.

The organisation said the protest would be held ‘in defence of our Christian roots and the Catholic faith’.

The Francisco Franco Foundation, a group created to preserve the memory of the former dictator, called the exhibition ‘a virulent and morbid attack on the Catholic religion’.

Meanwhile conservative campaign group, Make Yourself Heard, wrote on its website that ‘blasphemous provocation threatens again’.

However the exhibition’s creator, controversial Canadian artist Bruce LaBruce, defended the show.

“The lives of the saints are full of ecstatic acts of sublimated sexuality,” he said.

Obscenity presents a series of portraits that illustrate this most holy convergence of the sacred and the profane.”

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11 COMMENTS

  1. The Eucharistic Ministry – go back to school or alternatively de-programme yourselves before spouting off.

    DNA tests have confirmed the following:

    19% – Jewish Semite/ 40% – Arab Semite – neither of these have Christian roots and neither were the Euskadi or the Catalans and neither were the Germanic savages who worshipped Thor and Woden.

    The Catholic faith was forced on to all these people – believe or die. And for the Arabs and Jews – eat pig meat or be killed or deported – benevolent Christianity – LOL.

  2. C.R. and S.C., there is an element of truth in both your comments, but ignores the fact that for hundreds, if not thousands of years politicians and militarists in many countries have usurped religion for their own ends. This goes for any belief system, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Hindu, Pagan, etc. The most recent being enforced atheism amongst Communist states.
    But we live in the 21st century, belief-enforcement is generally a thing of the past, respect for each individual and their beliefs paramaount.
    Let artists try using a similar theme for money-making exhibitions based on Islam and see what happens.
    The message of Christianity is and always has been for 2000 years, peace and love.
    Try reading just one 2000 year old Gospel.

  3. Antonio2,
    Atheism has no beliefs that’s the whole point and really Christianity has been a violent religion almost from the start.

    Don’t forget that Christian fanatics in AD200 Egypt deliberately set out to defile and destroy the incredible structures of Egyption civilisations – which means they beat the Taliban destruction of Buddhist heads by over 1600 years.

    The message of both Catholics and Protestants has been bloody slaughter – the extermination of the Cathars – the Thirty year war in Germany where Catholics and Protestants went to great lengths to outdo each other in devising ways to torture and kill each other and in the processs decimated the entire population by more than the Black Death.

    Before that the Crusaders who when they finally managed to enter Jerusalem killed not only all Muslims but all Jews and Christians too, who ironically were protected in their religious beliefs by the Muslim defenders of the city.

    It is the relentless assault on Islam for centuries that has brought so many young Muslims to Jihad and it began with the destruction of El-Andaluz and continued with the arbitrary dissection of the old Ottoman Empire that created all the problems that have surfaced since.

    Why did the British Empire put minorities in control in the contrived States of Syria/Iraq and look at the results now. Lawrence promised the Arabs they would have a united Arab land but the politicians in the UK and the USA reneged on his promise.

    Perhaps the most shocking example of blatant interference by the Western powers was to try and assuage their collective guilt over the totally avoidable extermination of over 6 million Jews by ‘giving’ Palestinian land to the Jews. After all they were ‘non people’ just a bunch of ‘wogs’.

    The Jews should have been given land and addressed an old injustice at the same time – Italy and payback for the diaspora but only if they put the Italian Pope on trial for aiding and abetting Fascism and helping thousands of Gestapo and special SS to escape to South America, this scum actually gave them sanctuary in the Vatican on route.

    The upside for the Italians,those that survived or did’nt flee to another country would be a country that was financially sound with an efficient beaurocracy and free of the Mafia that the Jews would have hunted down and wiped out not like now,where they have effectively taken control of virtually everything with the help of their good friends in the Vatican.

    It really is very silly for any kind of Christian to talk about peace and love when the opposite is so blatantly obvious down the centuries.

    The only Christians that I know of who actually practice peace and love are the Amish who have never owned any weapons and the Redman respected the fact that they had no weapons and never killed them, though the other white illegal aliens in their land had no such respect and all good Christians exterminated over 15 million indigenous people in their land grab – the Christian preachers referred to the Redman as savages and encouraged the settlers to kill them – the horrendous crimes carried out in central and South America by good Catholics do not need to be told today but remember it was the Catholic Pope that told the conquistadores to ‘keep up the good work’ as long as he got his share of the gold and silver.

    And today the Spanish and Italian colonialists base their claim to the Falkland Islands on the arrogance of a Borgia Pope who arbitrarily devided up the ‘non-white’ world between the Spanish and Portugeuse and don’t forget their is no mention of Popes in the bible, they were created by the Romans to keep control of the money making machine that was and is the Catholic church.

    Then there’s America that has so many who call themselves Christians but would be welcomed with open arms by Heinrich.

    So back to the sexy photos – why not, Christians have never respected other peoples’ ways of living – south sea islanders were forced to wear clothing when it was their way to go naked – the sexual guilt was all with the preachers and yes i do think that Muslims have to pull their necks in as well.

    Personally any bunch of sky pixie worshippers who try to stop others expressing themselves in non violent ways should be put down without mercy. What a shame that all the good work that the Russians did in liberating Afghan women was of no consequence to the USA when they leave there and the Taliban take over once more do you think all those churchgoing Americans and Brits will give a damn about their fate – nah.

  4. Englishman: What a well thought out cogent critique. The Prado must be panting to employ you. All art is subjective to the viewer, to be liked, disliked or ignored. In this case your reaction proves that it’s art, it managed to provoke you, job done.

  5. Stefanjo: The fact that I think it’s trash does not make it art. If I look in my dustbin I see trash, or are you telling me it is art? In which case I will happily sell you all my rubbish. As for the Prado I am sure many Spanish tax payers would prefer me to a lot of so called experts.

  6. @ Stuart. Why are you and your fellow militant atheists so angry all the time ? If people want to believe in God .. Let them. It’s amusing you find the mention of Franco distasteful .. perhaps you forget that denying peoples’ right to self expression and personal beliefs is Fascism with a capital F. Dawkins bless you x :-)

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