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Madonna, Pope Francis
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Franco Origlia/Getty ImagesMadonna has been criticized for sharing an AI photo of herself and Pope Francis.
Madonna, 66, shared what appeared to be a photo of the pope, 87, hugging the pop icon via her Instagram Story on Friday, December 13. The image, which has since been taken down, is read, “Feels good to be seen.” Madonna has also tagged the Instagram account of Rick Dickwho made the statue.
Dick posted the image on his count with the caption, “MA.I.DONNA AND ALL. Thank you @madonna ❤️🔥.”
The image subsequently sparked controversy online.
Since the release of her debut album in 1983, Madonna has rarely been out of the public eye – and has never stopped delivering floor-filling pop hits. Born in Bay City, Michigan, in 1958, Madonna – whose full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone – began dancing as a child after convincing her father to let her study (…)
“This is ridiculously disrespectful,” one social media user wrote in the comments section, while others found it “weird” and “so creepy.”
Madonna, Dick and the Vatican have not publicly commented on the backlash; Us Weekly reached out for comment. However, the AI artist shared screenshots of media coverage of the controversy via Instagram Story on Saturday, December 14.
Madonna name, songs such as “Like a Prayer” and her tours have previously been criticized by Catholic figures for allegedly containing religious allegory. Its 1990 Ambition Blonde the trip was even boycotted by the pope at the time, Pope John Paul II.
“I was brought up with a Catholic education. During the press conference, while I was busy promoting In Bed with MadonnaI was shocked to see the Church attacking me because it couldn’t understand how much my work was trying to produce something good,” Madonna told Vanity Fair Italia in 2023. “I immediately realized that they were the problem, not me. The problem was because they had not understood that my work as an artist unites people, gives them freedom of expression, unity. It was a mirror of Jesus’ teaching. Whoever attacked me was just a hypocrite.”
Madonna’s Celebration Tour, which ended on May 4, is making news once again after a concertgoer filed a lawsuit claiming the show forced him to view what he called sexually explicit content. Concertgoer Justen Lipeles claimed in court documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly that the audience was subjected to “pornography without warning,” including “endless women (…)
Now, Madonna identifies as spiritual.
“I think it’s important to have a pattern of rituals and spiritual life. But I also believe that a religion without understanding, without knowledge, without curiosity and inclusiveness cannot be considered a religion,” he told the outlet. “Religion does not adhere to an exclusive or extreme group. Religion is respecting other religions. Religion encourages people to understand what they believe and to study what they believe in instead of adhering to dogma which without study and without understanding would be empty and sterile.”
Madonna added, “My relationship with religion today? Cultivating my spiritual habits. Habits that are valid for me and do not necessarily have to be valid for everyone. I believe everyone should do it because I find it important to pray and get in touch with the soul, with spiritual strength, call it what you want. I think it’s important because I believe in the idea of something bigger, something higher, something metaphysical that is beyond us but that keeps us all together.”
