Singer Madonna arriving at Macy's Herald Square to launch her new fragrance in New York on April 12, 2012.(Photo: Evan Agostini/AP Photo)
PHILADELPHIA — A lady with lots of encounter tangling with the Vatican has provided Pope Francis her endorsement throughout his 1st U.S. stop by.
At her concert Thursday night in Philadelphia, exactly where Francis is scheduled this weekend to make the final stop of his tour, a tongue-in-cheek Madonna dedicated a section of her show to him.
She later announced: “Guidelines are for fools. That’s why I like the new pope. He seems extremely open-minded.”
It was just one particular of a lot of comments about Francis at a concert that featured lots of religious imagery, including female performers wearing nuns’ habits — and little else — pole dancing on crosses.
“The pope is stalking me,” she said, noting she not too long ago performed in New York, exactly where Francis is until Saturday morning. “Either he’s a copycat or he’s secretly in love with me.”
Soon after climbing up on a table in a clingy, shimmering dress, the 57-year-old provocateur stated: “I created it. Can the pope do that?”
And then: “I’ve been excommunicated from the Catholic Church three occasions. It shows the Vatican truly cares,” she joked.
“Considering that Popey-wopey is on his way over here, I want to dedicate this song to him,” she mentioned before launching into a heartfelt version of “La Vie en Rose.”
Madonna, raised Roman Catholic in Michigan, has a long history of operating afoul of the Vatican. Her 1989 video for “Like A Prayer” contained imagery that outraged religious leaders, which includes stigmata and burning crosses. Her seminal 1990 “Blond Ambition” tour included simulated masturbation and brought condemnation from the Vatican. And in her 2006 “Confessions” tour, she staged a mock crucifixion only a couple of miles from the Vatican.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the Vatican has completely banished the singer. In December, Italy’s singing nun, Sister Cristina Scuccia, met Francis and presented him with a copy of her 1st CD, which functions a remake of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” Scuccia had won the Italian edition of “The Voice” earlier that year. The Italian Bishops’ Conference criticized the song’s appearance on the CD, saying it was a industrial ploy.
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