guardian.co.uk,
Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent, Thursday 17 November 2011
 |
| Benetton's poster is part of a campaign entitled 'UNHATE'. Photograph: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images |
Italian
clothing company Benetton has withdrawn a publicity shot of the pope kissing a
Muslim religious leader following a Vatican backlash.
A digitally
manipulated picture showed Benedict XVI locking lips with Mohammed Ahmed Al
Tayeb, the grand sheikh of Al Azhar Mosque in Cairo, as part of an advertisingcampaign that launched on Wednesday and featured unlikely combinations of
religious and political figureheads kissing.
An image of
Silvio Berlusconi kissing Angel Merkel was pulled after the controversial
Italian leader submitted his resignation last week.
The
offending poster of the pope and Al Tayeb briefly appeared in Rome, but the
Vatican reaction was swift.
Vatican
spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi criticised the company for exploiting the pope's
image, calling it completely unacceptable. He said: "We must express the
firmest protest for this absolutely unacceptable use of the image of the Holy
Father, manipulated and exploited in a publicity campaign with commercial ends.
This shows a grave lack of respect for the pope, an offence to the feelings of
believers, a clear demonstration of how publicity can violate the basic rules
of respect for people by attracting attention with provocation."
Lombardi
also appeared to suggest that the Vatican would try to protect the pope's image
in the future.
Benetton
apologised, saying it was sorry the picture "had so hurt the sensibilities
of the faithful".
Earlier this
year Egypt recalled its ambassador to the Holy See for what it called
"unacceptable interference in its internal affairs" after the pope
appeared to criticise the government for failing to protect Christian
minorities.
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