The creche at the church in Capocastello di Mercogliano, east of Naples, prompted condemnation from Italian Senator Maurizio Gasparri, who said it “offends all those who always had respect and devotion for the Holy Family.”

The display also provoked a petition from the pro-life group Pro-Vita & Famiglia, which denounced the display as “a blasphemous and provocative representation that distorts the meaning of the Nativity scene itself and of the Holy Family,” and called on Bishop of Avellino Arturo Aiello to have it removed.

The petition, which has garnered nearly 25,000 signatures as of Wednesday, specifically condemned “the removal of Saint Joseph, sacrificed on the altar of political correctness,” as well as “the very serious message relating to the ‘two mothers’ which ‘sanctifies’ a practice as illegal as the buying and selling of gametes.”

Surrogacy in Italy has been illegal since 2004, and Italian lawmakers have been debating another law that would ban engaging a surrogate mother in another country, punishable by up to three years in prison and one million euro in fines, according to The Associated Press.

Source: christianpost.com