A British artist has outraged Roman Catholics around the world by advertising a statuette of the Virgin Mary enveloped in a condom in a respected Jesuit weekly. The artist, Steve Rosenthal, offered readers a chance to buy a ”a stunning 22cm statue of the Virgin Mary standing atop a serpent, wearing a delicate veil of latex”. It provided an e-mail address at which buyers could register interest.
In a front-page article in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Vittorio Messori, a literary collaborator of the late pope John Paul, expressed horror at the way the end of the condom had been arranged so as to sit on top of the Virgin’s head, ”like a grotesque cap replacing the royal crown of tradition”. The Jesuit weekly, America, which calls itself the US ”national Catholic weekly”, apologised in its latest issue.
A spokesperson told The Guardian newspaper: ”We made a terrible mistake by publishing this. We only saw the ad in black and white, so we didn’t see how serious it was.”
Rosenthal, who is based in London, said last month that his work had been ”orchestrated” for publication to coincide with World Aids Day on December 1 last year.
”The primary aim of the work is to highlight the Vatican’s continuance of non-advocation regarding the use of condoms,” he said. ”The description of the work was clear from both the text included and the image provided. America magazine happily accepted the insertion and billed me for $391. It has subsequently refused to accept payment.”— Â