The Vatican has been ridiculed for its 'comically awful' nativity scene with the figures being likened to the Daleks and Darth Vad...
The Vatican has been ridiculed for its 'comically awful' nativity scene with the figures being likened to the Daleks and Darth Vader.
The 20 ceramic statues were set up in St Peter's Square by officials on Friday and include an astronaut and a character wearing a warrior-like helmet with skulls on it.
In a critical article from The Catholic Herald titled 'The Vatican's Embarrassing SciFi Creche' one writer branded it 'comically awful'.
Meanwhile several people on social media likened the figures to Dalek's from the popular Doctor Who series who were famous for their 'Exterminate! Exterminate!' catchphrase.
Another person on social media responded by posting a picture showing the astronaut figure planting a Vatican flag on the moon.
The Vatican has been ridiculed for its 'comically awful' nativity scene with the figures being likened to the Daleks and Darth Vader
The 20 ceramic figures were set up in St Peter's Square by officials on Friday including an astronaut (left) and a character wearing a warrior-like helmet with skull on it (right)
Someone else posted a picture showing Darth Vader asking for directions to St. Peter's Square.
The Vatican uses a different nativity scene each year, usually donated by towns or artists. This year's modernist, larger-than-life display, was made by students and teachers in Castelli, an Italian town famous for ceramics, between 1965 and 1975.
It was inspired by ancient ceramic techniques that were used in the area. Italians traditionally add a new character to represent a current event.
The figures were originally put on display in 1965 in Castelli, then in Rome in 1970, before they did a world tour visiting Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Tel Aviv.
Since the Seventies the figures - which used to be part of a set of 54 - have been kept at the Castelli State Art Institute because of damage sustained on the world tour.
This year's modernist, larger-than-life display, which has appeared at various venues, was made by students and teachers in Castelli, an Italian town famous for ceramics
The astronaut figure (centre) is meant to be a reflection of the year in which the model was made - just after the moon landing in 1969
The figures are spaced out on a minimalist stage with no hut, trees or other background features that normally characterise Nativity scenes.
Reaction online has mostly been negative with people calling it 'hideous', an 'embarrassment' and a 'mockery of the birth of Jesus Christ'.
'It's rather cold and why is there an astronaut? I don't really understand what is going on,' Anna Francesca Zocchi, 58, a Rome civil servant, told The Times.
The astronaut figure is meant to be a reflection of the year in which the model was made - just after the moon landing in 1969.
Reaction online has mostly been negative with people calling it 'hideous', an 'embarrassment' and a 'mockery of the birth of Jesus Christ'
The figures are spaced out on a minimalist stage with no hut, trees or other background features that normally characterise Nativity scenes
The Vatican uses a different nativity scene each year, usually donated by towns or artists. Pictured is the astronaut figure
However many conservative critics have said reacted strongly, with one posting on Twitter: 'We have to stop passively putting up with these insults to the faith and Catholic sensibilities.'
Another said: 'I hope the Pope's veneration or worship of these very strange idols doesn't trigger another even greater pandemic.'
For others closer to home, the decision by the Vatican City's de facto municipal government to use it at the end of 2020 of all years was particularly irksome.
'With this global pandemic and everything else the Christian people, or anyone for that matter, was expecting a sign of rebirth,' said Alfredo Chiarelli, 65, who has been selling religious items in the square for 30 years.
'It has confused and saddened a lot of people,' he told Reuters.
Past Vatican nativity scenes have included a broken boat representing the plight of refugees and a person visiting an inmate in a jail cell, symbolising charity.
Last year's was sculpted from 720 tons of beach sand.
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