The bishops of Brazil have rapped a Brazilian sports magazine for
printing photos of famous soccer star Neymar, in which he appears
crucified.
In its October edition, the magazine Placar printed a photo spread
featuring Brazilian soccer star Neymar's face photo-shopped over the
famous painting of Christ crucified by Velasquez.
The caption under the photo refers to Neymar as a “sacrificial lamb” in a sport in which “everyone plays dirty.”
In response, the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Brazil issued a
statement expressing “profound indignation” over the photo. The
secretary general of the bishops' conference, Bishop Leonardo Steiner,
read the statement to reporters.
“We recognize freedom of expression as a fundamental principal of the
state and democratic society, as long as there are objective limits in
its exercise,” the bishops said.
“The ridicule of the faith and the disdain for the religious sentiments
of the people through the disrespectful use of the image of Jesus
Christ suggests the manipulation and exploitation of an editorial
resource for mere commercial gain,” they added.
Those responsible for the publication of the photo “have at the very
least shown themselves to be insensitive to the recent worldwide scene
of deplorable violence caused by the inappropriate use of religious
images, thus attacking the consolidation of respectful coexistence
between groups of different beliefs,” the bishops noted.
They called the picture “a clear lack of respect that is offensive to
what Christians consider to be most sacred, and it is another dangerous
display of the famous device of using provocation to gain attention.”