Madonna's concert was to be held in Rome's Olympic stadium,some 3km from the Vatican, which prompted Catholic officials to denounce the act as a publicity stunt in bad taste.
"To crucify yourself in the city of the pope and the martyrs is an act of open hostility," Cardinal Ersilio Tonini was quoted as saying in the La Stampa daily last week. "It's a scandal created on purpose by astute merchants to attract publicity."
Muslim and Jewish leaders have also criticized the concert stunt.
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