Jude Law’s The New Pope sparks outcry from Catholic Church over scene featuring nuns in nightdresses dancing beneath a fluorescent crucifix
- TV mini-series has infuriated Catholic Church for its portrayal of gyrating nuns
- Father Gianmatteo Caputo labelled scene ‘offensive’, lacking ‘narrative context’
- The scene is filmed in a former monastery on the island of San Giorgio in Venice
TV mini-series ‘The New Pope’ starring Jude Law has prompted an angry reaction from the Catholic Church for its ‘sexy’ portrayal of nuns.
In the first scene of the nine-episode HBO Drama, around 15 gyrating nuns dressed in their nighties dance at the base of the huge fluorescent crucifix.
The scene is filmed in a former monastery on the island of San Giorgio in the Venetian lagoon.
The mini-series premiered on Sky Atlantic on Sunday night and on HBO yesterday evening.
TV mini-series ‘The New Pope’ starring Jude Law has prompted an angry reaction from the Catholic Church for its ‘sexy’ portrayal of nuns
In the first scene of the nine-episode HBO Drama, around 15 gyrating nuns dressed in their nighties dance at the base of the huge fluorescent crucifix
The scene is filmed in a former monastery on the island of San Giorgio in the Venetian lagoon
The mini-series, which is the follow-up to smash-hit Vatican drama ‘The Young Pope’, has been labelled ‘offensive’ by the archbishop of Venice.
‘The scene is offensive and lacks any narrative context that would justify it,’ said Father Gianmatteo Caputo, the patriarch’s official in charge of cultural heritage.
‘Because it lacks context, what is being offered to viewers is more like a music video, filmed in a place which is important historically and for the monastic tradition of Venice, the archbishop said, adding the former monastery had been ‘transformed into a stage for a coquettish and suggestive dance, performed beneath the supreme symbol of Christianity, the cross.’
Jude Law stars in the series as Lenny Belardo, also known as Pius XIII, the first-ever American pope. Actresses Cecile de France and Ludivine Sagnier also star in key roles.
The scene of the nuns dancing prompted an angry response from the Catholic Church
The scene is offensive and lacks any narrative context that would justify it,’ said Father Gianmatteo Caputo, the patriarch’s official in charge of cultural heritage
Critics are billing ‘The New Pope’ for its feminist take on the inner workings of the Catholic church
Sharon Stone and Marilyn Manson play themselves.
Critics are billing ‘The New Pope’ for its feminist take on the inner workings of the Catholic church.
Paolo Sorrentino, the Bafta-winning maker of the 2013 film ‘La Grande Bellezza’, is the director behind the series.
He told AFP: ‘The Church is much more sexist than the rest of the world.
‘Women absolutely do not have the same rights; they cannot say Mass, they live according to how men want them to.’
‘This is a situation that will end,’ he added.