Was I glad to read these lines from Reuters:
“The Vatican said on Thursday it would
take legal action to stop the distribution of a photo montage in an
advertisement by the Italian fashion firm Benetton
showing Pope Benedict kissing an imam on
the mouth.” Well done Vatican. Its time to take action.
The photo montage by Benetton shows various leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI,
kissing other leaders. This is part of Benetton’s new “UNHATE”
campaign. The press release from Benetton states that its worldwide campaign invites
leaders and citizens of the world to combat the “culture of hatred”.
If you ask me the Benetton marketing
department deliberately wanted to create a ruckus. It doesn’t take a rocket
scientist to know that showing the Pope kissing an imam is going to cause
hatred and anger rather than combat hatred. I hope that the Vatican sues
Benetton for a ton of money. I am sure Benetton can afford to lose a few
million dollars to a worthy cause. Also, since Benetton is clearly so intent on
ending a “culture of hatred”, their money would show their willingness to truly
apologise and UNHATE.
The Vatican can then donate the money to the
US bishops’ conference to supply the funds that the bishops need for their program
that aids the victims of human trafficking. The US Department of Health and Human Services has declined to renew funding for the program
because the bishops’ program fails to provide a “full range of reproductive
services”—that is, abortion and contraception—for the victims. It seems that
the US, the land of the free, would rather support abortion than fight human
trafficking.
What do you think?
