Nativity scenes showing same-sex partners with the baby Jesus are being called "blasphemous" by conservative Catholics and local politicians in Italy.
In Capocastello di Mercogliano, about an hour's drive east of Naples, a church nativity scene features two mothers instead of Mary and Joseph.
The Rev. Vitaliano Della Sala, the priest at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, is known locally for sympathizing with LGBT and left-wing causes. He said the same-sex nativity scene is in line with the edict of Pope Francis, who last week allowed priests to bless same-sex couples.
"I wanted to show with this scene that families are no longer just the traditional ones," Della Sala told Reuters.
"In our parishes we see more and more children from the new types of families that exist and are part of our society, children of separated and divorced people, gay couples, single people, young mothers."
Sen. Maurizio Gasparri, a member of the co-ruling Forza Italia party, said the LGBT nativity scene "offends all those who always had respect and devotion for the Holy Family."
Italy’s Pro-Life and Family (Pro-Vita e Famiglia) group called the display "dangerous, as well as shameful and blasphemous.”
The group launched an online petition — which so far has attracted more than 21,000 signatories — calling on the bishop of Avellino to intervene.
Pro-Vita said the nativity scene contradicted the church's teachings on the family, and legitimized same-sex parenting and surrogacy.
Having children through surrogacy is illegal in Italy. Parliament is discussing a government-sponsored law that would criminalize couples who go abroad to undertake the practice.
In Rome on Sunday, a same-sex-nativity scene with two Virgin Marys appeared on Pro-Vita’s headquarters, ANSA reported.
The work, created by Italian street artist and activist Laika, shows Jesus wrapped in a rainbow-flag blanket. The scene was on a poster and was pasted onto the shutters of the headquarters' building.
Laika also put up a poster showing St. Joseph working as a carpenter on the "coffin of the patriarchy," ANSA reported.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/italy-same-sex-nativity-scene/2023/12/25/id/1147130/
