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The
futuristic ceramic crèche - which includes an astronaut and a
character reminiscent of Darth Vader from Star Wars - has
received so many terrible reviews that, if it were a Broadway
play, it probably would have closed on opening night.
Some social media users - perhaps in keeping with the prevailing
mood of 2020 - called it disturbing or lacking reassurance.
Others were more scathing.
"What in the name of sane Christianity have they created in the
piazza in the Vatican," tweeted A.A. Michelangelo. "... Words
(are) inadequate for this horrific creation which must have come
from the planet Zog".
Mary, Joseph, the three kings and the shepherds look like cubic
chess figures and the animals are squat and square.
The Vatican uses a different nativity scene each year, usually
donated by towns or artists.
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, between 1965 and
1975.
Italians traditionally add a new character to represent a
current event.
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.
The astronaut represents the lunar landings of the late 1960s
and early 1970s, according to a description for visitors.
One person on social media responded by posting a picture
showing that figure planting a Vatican flag on the moon. Another
showed Darth Vader asking for directions to St. Peter's Square.
Among the scene's few unqualified fans was American Lino Rulli,
who hosts "The Catholic Guy", a weekday radio programme in
Minnesota. "I don’t know what I love more: the spaceman or the
guy from the Star Wars Cantina. I really want a small one for
our home," he tweeted.
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.
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; editing by John Stonestreet)
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