is ready to bury the hatchet with the Vatican and has reached out to the Pope for a meeting to ‘discuss important matters’.
The Material Girl singer has long had a famously strained relationship with the Catholic Church, having been accused of ‘blasphemy’ due to her raunchy music videos and performances over the years.
In 1989, she became embroiled in an almighty Scan**l after the release of her Like A Prayer video, which features burning crosses and statues crying blood, while Madonna also seduces ‘Jesus’.
However, it seems like the queen of pop wants to get back in the church’s good graces and has reached out to the Pope the only way she knows how.
In a tweet on Thursday, she tagged the head of the Catholic Church directly, and wrote: ‘Hello @Pontifex Francis —I’m a good Catholic. I Swear! I mean I don’t Swear! Its [sic] been a few decades since my last confession. Would it be possible to meet up one day to discuss some important matters ?’
Tugging on heartstrings, she added: ‘I’ve been ex communicated 3 times. It doesn’t seem fair. Sincerely Madonna.’
Prominent members of the Catholic Church – and other religious leaders – have made their feelings on Madonna pretty clear.
Almost 33 years ago, after the release of Like A Prayer, Madonna faced a storm of controversy over the erotic content and ambiguous lyrics of the song as well as the scenes in the music video.
At the time, Pope John Paul II called for a boycott of the song and videos on music stations across Italy.
Several years later in 2004, a Vatican group warned that Madonna’s religious belief in Kabbalah, a form of Judaisim, was a potential threat to the Roman Catholic faith.
Two years after that, Madonna, 63, continued to stoke the flames when she staged a mock crucifixion during a concert in Rome.
Cardinal Ersilio Tonino, speaking with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, slammed the move and said: ‘This time the limits have really been pushed too far.
‘This concert is a blasphemous challenge to the faith and a profanation of the cross. She should be excommunicated.’
Father Manfredo Leone from Rome’s Santa Maria Liberatrice church, also said: ‘It is disrespectful, in bad taste and provocative.’
It’s not the first time Madonna has expressed her wishes to meet with Pope Francis, as she previously revealed what she’d love to pick his thoughts about if they did sit down for a chat.
Speaking said on Andrew Denton’s Interview in 2019, she said: ‘Let’s talk about Jesus’ point of view about women. Let’s talk about it.
‘What do you really think he thought of women? And don’t you think Jesus would agree that a woman has the right to choose what to do with her body.’
She added: ‘One day he might invite me. I think this one might… I think he would be open to having that conversation with me.’
