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A statue of the Virgin Mary veiled in a condom is pictured in
this undated photograph. An advertisement for the statue, provided by
British-based artist Steve Rosenthal, has embarrassed the publishers of the U.S.
Catholic magazine America, and prompted some heated comment on Catholic Web
sites. America, a weekly run by the Jesuit order of priests, said in a statement
it was embarrassed and offended by the ad, which it said had been published
unknowingly in its 12/5/05 edition. The apparent prank by Rosenthal
offered what he called the Extra Virgin statue for sale, 'a stunning .... statue
of the Virgin Mary standing atop a serpent wearing a delicate veil of latex.'
Rosenthal said in a media e-mail on 12/22/05, that 'the primary aim of
the work is to highlight the Vatican's continuance of non-advocation regarding
the use of condoms and I conceived America magazine to be the most suitable
place to contextualize the work outside of the gallery space and produce
a dialogue.' |
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