Miss Bumbum contestants portray Christ and his disciples Last Supper painting in their bikinis

Brazil’s Miss Bumbum beauty pageant has sparked controversy after hopefuls posed for a raunchy portrayal of iconic religious painting The Last Supper.

The photo shows eight hopefuls in the country’s popular ‘rear of the year’ contest portraying Christ and his disciplines – with the sexiest girl posing as Jesus.

Religious leaders branded the remake of the Da Vinci masterpiece “deeply disrespectful” and even Brazil’s religious intolerance commission condemned the picture.

Even one of the women involved said she regretted posing for the shot and said she had “asked forgiveness from God for a great sin”.

Daiana Fegueredo, representing the state of Ceara, was chosen to play Jesus in the photo as her bottom received the most number of phone votes, making her the frontrunner in the race for the coveted title.

But she said she now regrets agreeing to taking part:

 “I did the photo because of my contract. But I didn’t like it and I wasn’t happy about it. You can’t play around with the word of God.

I completely understand people being angry about it, because even I’m angry and I’m in it. For me it is blasphemy.”I feel really bad deep inside of me. I’m a practising Catholic. Since I did the photo my heart is tight inside my chest, I can’t sleep and I don’t stop thinking about it. I’ve already asked forgiveness from God, and I ask forgiveness from everyone else. We went too far. We were part of a great sin.”

Father Clesio Vieira, from the Volta Redonda diocese of Rio de Janeiro, said the photo has caused “great offence” to Catholics.

“Everyone’s talking about it. It has broken the boundaries of ethics and respect, all in the name of money. This isn’t creativity, it’s the vulgarisation of the sacred and is deeply disrespectful.”

Assistant bishop of Rio de Janeiro, Antonio Augusto Dias Duarte, also criticised the photos, saying he was against any images showing women’s bottoms, “whatever the setting”.

He added: “Women need to be valued for their role as a wife, mother, professional, and for her intellectual and cultural qualities.”

From Daily Mirror

Man beaten to death for urinating near church

A man in Southern Germany was beaten to death by four men after he publicly urinated near a church, police said on Thursday.

Police are searching for the four men who hurled insults and attacked the 51-year-old man recently after he was seen urinating close to a church in Freiburg, a city in Germany’s traditionally Catholic south.

According to police, the man told his son about the attack before succumbing to his injuries later that day.

However an autopsy confirmed that he died as a result of the attack.

Report says public urination on Church buildings has become an issue of public concern in Germany, corroding the buildings’ sandstone foundations and leading authorities to institute hefty fines.

Catholic priest kidnapped in Delta regains freedom in Edo

 

The abducted Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Paul Irikefe, who was kidnapped by unknown gunmen on Monday in Delta State, has regained freedom from his captors.

Our correspondent gathered that the priest was freed on Wednesday around Benin where he was reportedly taken to by his abductors.

Father Irikefe, a lecturer with Saint’s Peter and Paul Catholic Major Seminary in Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State, was kidnapped on Monday evening within the Warri/Effurun metropolis.

Irikefe was in Warri to attend the burial of his friend and colleague, Rev. Fr. Amaefule Chike, who was buried on Tuesday at the Agbarho Pastoral Centre, Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.

A source within the Warri Diocese who confirmed the priest’s release said it was not clear if the church paid the N30m ransom the abductors had earlier demanded.

Our source who called our correspondent on Thursday morning to disclose the news added that the Catholic priest has been reunited with the Bishop of Warri Diocese, Bishop John Okeoghene Afareha.

He is said to have been traumatised as a result of the maltreatment he received from his captors.

Rev. Fr. Benedict Ukutegbe, Acting Administrator, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Catholic Diocese of Warri, confirmed his colleague’s release when contacted by our correspondent.

 Ukutegbe also confirmed that the priest was released in Benin, Edo State Capital.

Two Catholic nuns found murdered in Mississippi home

Two Catholic nuns were found slain in a Mississippi home where they lived when the women, both nurse practitioners, didn't report to work at a nearby hospital, authorities said Thursday.
Durant Assistant Police Chief James Lee said it was too early to say how the nuns died, but it appears they were not shot.
There were signs of a break-in and the nuns' vehicle is missing, said Maureen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson. Both women worked at the Lexington Medical Clinic, about 10 miles away from their home in Durant, a town in a poor, rural part of the state.
Authorities didn't release a motive and it wasn't clear if the nuns' religious work had anything to do with the slayings.
"I have an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach," said the assistant police chief, who is Catholic.
One nun is a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky. The other is part of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee