Madonna criticized for posing in a bra with Virgin Mary statue

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated

Madonna with Madonna is a little too much for the internet.

The singer — outfitted in a black lace bra and fishnets — posed with a statue of the Virgin Mary over the weekend. The caption for the provocative photo said that the Madame X singer, 60, was “giving thanks to the blessed Virgin.” She added the hashtag “gratitude.”

Needless to say, many had opinions about the controversial star, who was raised Catholic but has long dabbled in Judaism, with the religious figurine in front of her cleavage. Some comments on her posts from Instagram and Twitter:

“I’m not Catholic anymore for all the right reasons but this photo disturbs me. Maybe cause Madame X is just trying so hard and coming off as insincere.”

“Give thanks to Jesus not the virgin mary.”

“Let me see are you Catholic this month or Jewish? You can’t be both. Sorry.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Madonna (@madonna) on

“Confused ... aren’t you Jewish??”

“I thought you were a Kabbalah woman.”

“Oh, brother.”

“In fishnet tights... talking about blessing... oh dear... This desperate demonstration of nudity is totally unnecessary.”

“Holding our Holy Theotokos while advocating for abortion is a gross hypocrisy.”

Though the fandom was real. The singer, riding high after her ninth No. 1 album, got a lot of “Amens.” One wrote, “This is my religion.” Many other comments played on her songs, like “Like a Virgin” and “bless yourself and genuflect” (from “Holy Water”).

The “Like a Prayer” singer grew up in a Roman Catholic household — her mother was also named Madonna — and she said she “really wanted to be a nun” when she was young. She’s been singing about religion for four decades — and sometimes writhing on stage decorated in crucifixes.

“I sometimes think I was born to live up to my name,” Madonna once told Vanity Fair. “How could I be anything else but what I am having been named Madonna? I would either have ended up a nun or this.”

While she has studied Kabbalah, becoming the poster child of it in the 2000s, she told Rolling Stone in 2015, "I don't affiliate myself with any specific group. I connect to different ritual aspects of different belief systems, and I see the connecting thread between all religious beliefs. I have not converted to Judaism.”

During an interview last week with Australian talk show host Andrew Denton, Madonna said she wants to change the Vatican's stance on reproductive rights — and would be up for a conversation with Pope Francis about it.

"Let's talk about Jesus' point of view about women,” she said. "Don't you think Jesus would agree that a woman has the right to choose what to do with her body?"

Read more on Yahoo Entertainment:

Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle’s newsletter.