In what one critic called an act of "madness," an Italian priest set up a "Muslim Nativity scene" in his church last Christmas, Religion News reported.
The scene depicted Mary, the mother of Jesus, wearing what appeared to be a Muslim dress fully covering her body and part of her face.
Moments after it was put up, the Nativity scene at a church in the southern Italian town of Potenza immediately drew criticism and even became the subject of a nationwide backlash on TV and social media.
The Rev. Franco Corbo, the 76-year-old priest who designed the display, drew heavy flak, even reportedly receiving personal threats aside from the hundreds of abusive telephone calls he received at his parish.
Because of the intense pressure, Corbo was eventually forced to replace his church's Christmas Nativity scene.
Originally, the Nativity scene showed Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in Tuareg costumes worn by tribes from the Sahara desert. They were replaced by African figures from Senegal.
Matteo Salvini, the leader of the anti-immigrant Northern League, called the priest's actions an act of "madness."
"The last thing we needed was the 'Muslim Nativity Scene' from this parish priest, for whom ISIS is substantially our fault, the Israelis are ugly and evil, and if you dislike the MADONNA IN A BURQA it is YOUR fault for being closed-minded and a fanatic," Salvini wrote in his Facebook page.
Corbo defended his choice for the Nativity scene, saying he made the holy family wear Arab costumes "to represent cultural openness and send a message of peace to all cultures."
He denied the figure of Mary was wearing a burqa, as critics claimed.
"The burqa is black and covers the whole body except for the eyes," he said. "The statue [in his Nativity scene] had a white shawl and a white dress and the face was visible."
Corbo insisted that the characters in his Nativity scene were not Muslim even though they wore traditional costumes. He blamed the media for misinterpreting the message he wanted to convey.
"There is so much ignorance," the priest said. "The Nativity scene is designed to confront the problems of our time. This year we wanted to deal with the 65 walls that have been built in the world. The most scandalous is the wall built by the Israelis to block the Palestinians.
"Building walls is easy. Creating dialogue is a little difficult."
