Madonna Escapes Censure in Germany Over Mock Crucifixion

The German leg of Madonna's "Confessions" world tour started in the western city of Düsseldorf on Sunday evening with prosecuting authorities from the city awaiting a flood of complaints.

The notoriety of the singer's current show, during which she is symbolically crucified on stage, has followed the tour from the United States, to Russia and Europe, and German officials had planned to enforce the country's tight blasphemy laws to if they felt Madonna had gone too far.

But after the opening concert of the German sojourn -- a sold-out show in front of 45,000 fans at the LTU Arena -- the authorities decided that no action would be taken against the pop diva, with reports suggesting only one complaint of blasphemy against Madonna was filed before the event in Düsseldorf.

Officials in the city said last week that a repeat of the crucifixion performance could be construed as insulting religious beliefs, but they also said the show might be covered by laws protecting artistic freedoms.

Freedom of artistic expression

But Johannes Mocken, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Düsseldorf, told reporters Sunday that while the use of the cross and crown of thorns was "offensive to religious people," the mock crucifixion would not be recognized by the authorities as a criminal offence. Mocken added that the scene was covered by laws governing the freedom of artistic expression.

Madonna, as has been the case ever since the show began in the US in May, was not swayed by criticism and performed "Live To Tell" as usual from her mirrored cross as statistics of child mortality rates from AIDS and pictures of HIV positive children were beamed onto the screen behind her.

Church leaders urge boycott

Meanwhile, a German bishop has urged fans to boycott the rest of Madonna's tour of the country because of the crucifixion routine, in which she sings wearing a crown of thorns and is hitched to the cross.

"I thought Madonna was better than this because she claims to be a religious person," Protestant Bishop Margot Käsmann told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "But maybe the only way an aging superstar can attract attention is to offend people's religious sentiments."

She added: "I advise people to ignore Madonna. Stars come and go, but the Christian faith endures."

The office of the archbishop of Cologne has also said it deplored Madonna's provocative use of religious imagery.