Pop icon Madonna has sparked controversy after sharing AI-generated images of herself in intimate poses with Pope Francis on Instagram.
The 66-year-old singer posted the fabricated photos to her Instagram Story on Friday, showing the religious leader appearing to get close with the star.
Alongside one image showing the Pope with his arm around her waist, Madonna wrote “Feels Good to Be Seen……”
In another AI-created photo, she added the caption “Going into the weekend like…”
The provocative posts come amid the singer’s decades-long clash with the Catholic Church, which has previously condemned her for “blasphemous” behaviour.
The artificial intelligence-generated images show Madonna in her signature style – wearing a busty corset adorned with layers of jewellery – whilst appearing to embrace the 87-year-old Roman Pontiff.
Madonna sparked outrage with AI-generated images featuring the Pope on Friday
In one of the AI-generated images, the Pope can be seen with his arm wrapped around Madonna’s waist, leaning in close to her face in what some social media users described as a “sniffing” position.
The second fabricated photo depicts the seven-time Grammy winner in a lacy black top, sharing an intimate embrace with the religious leader.
The artificially created images show the 87-year-old Pope Francis, who has served as head of the Catholic Church since 2013, in unusually intimate proximity to the pop star.
Social media users quickly expressed their outrage at Madonna’s AI-generated images on X, formerly Twitter.
It’s not the first run-in Madonna has had with the Catholic Church
“This is insanely disrespectful and weird and I am not even Christian,” wrote one user.
“Using AI to depict Madonna with the Pope raises questions about ethics and respect in digital art,” added another. A third stated stated: “This is unethical and not good at all.”
“AI HAS GONE TOO FAR,” declared another emphatically. However, some fans defended the pop star’s provocative posts.
“She’s so funny for this,” wrote another social media user.
“She is so unserious,” commented someone else.
Others questioned her motives, with one user writing: “She wants to remain relevant so bad.” (sic)
Madonna’s contentious relationship with the Catholic Church spans over three decades, beginning in the late 1980s.
In 1989, her Like a Prayer music video sparked outrage for featuring burning crosses and an erotic depiction of Jesus.
Pope John Paul II responded by encouraging fans to boycott Madonna in Italy and avoid her Blond Ambition tour in 1990.
The controversy escalated in 2006 when Madonna staged a mock crucifixion during a concert in Rome.
Cardinal Ersilio Tonino, with Pope Benedict XVI’s approval, declared that she “should be excommunicated” for pushing the limits too far.
The Vatican had previously criticised her Who’s That Girl Tour in 1987, a Pepsi advertisement in 1989, and her explicit book, Sex, released in 1992.
In 2022, Madonna reached out to Pope Francis on social media, writing: “I’m a good Catholic. I Swear! Would it be possible to meet up one day to discuss some important matters?”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Madonna shared AI-generated snaps of the Pope and herself in intimate poses
Getty
Despite her clashes with the Church, Madonna has maintained a complex relationship with Catholicism throughout her career.
Speaking to Billboard in 2015, the singer revealed she had been “ex-communicated” multiple times from the Catholic Church.
In the same year, she expressed openness to dialogue with Pope Francis, calling him “groovy” and suggesting they “might be able to get together and have a chat about sex.”
The pop star explained her spiritual stance to the Irish Independent in 2015, stating: “I don’t affiliate myself with any specific religious group. I connect to different ritualistic aspects of different belief systems, and I see the connecting thread between all religious beliefs.”
Throughout her career, Madonna has frequently incorporated religious imagery into her artistic work, despite facing public denouncement from the Church.
