MADONNA - RELIGIOUS LEADERS SLAM MADONNA CRUCIFIXION STUNT

Pop superstar MADONNA has been lambasted by religious leaders in Rome over the mock-crucifixion stunt planned for her Italian show on Sunday (06AUG06). Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders have branded the singer a "blasphemer" for the controversial act on her current Confessions tour, which sees her descend onto the stage attached to a sparkling cross wearing a fake crown of thorns. The act has already courted controversy in America, where Madonna's concerts kicked off, but her insistence on keeping it for the Rome show - near to the holy Vatican City - has outraged religious conservatives. Father MANFREDO LEONE from Rome's Santa Maria Liberatrice church says, "It is disrespectful, in bad taste and provocative. "Appearing on a cross with a crown of thorns like a modern Christ is absurd. Doing it in the cradle of Christianity comes close to blasphemy." MARIO SCIALOJA, head of Italy's Muslim League, adds, "I think her idea is in the worst taste and she'd do better to go home." Madonna has previously provoked religious anger with her controversial 1989 video for hit song LIKE A PRAYER, which featured burning crosses and the singer seducing a black Christ-like figure in a church.