Romania's Orthodox Church said on April 29 that posters depicting nurses and doctors dealing with the coronavirus outbreak as saints were an insult to Christian iconography.
The campaign is “marked by bad taste fed by ignorance and a hideous ideology that only knows how to caricaturize Christianity,” said church spokesman Vasile Banescu.
The posters are part of a wider European campaign designed to thank medical workers for their work in the pandemic. They depict nurses and doctors in a style mixing comic book elements with religious art.
Banescu said the posters were not just "a blasphemous act" but also an insult to doctors, who do not think of themselves as saints or "improvised saviors."
Bucharest city hall said it would ask outdoor advertising firms to remove the posters. In a statement it suggests they could be replaced by "images that bring homage to hero doctors without hurting the faith of passersby."
The posters were created by Romanian illustrator Wanda Hutira for McCann Worldgroup. The advertising agency defended the posters as a "gesture of gratitude for doctors." The company said they were a "daring artistic choice" that was in no way following a "political, religious, or any other kind of purpose."
The majority of Romanians are Christian Orthodox and the Church has considerable influence in the EU country of 20 million people.
Romania has reported nearly 12,000 cases of the coronavirus and 688 deaths, according to a database maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
In Russia's War Economy, The Warning Lights Are Blinking
2Attack From Afghanistan Kills Chinese National In Tajikistan, Sources Say
3RFE/RL Reveals Chilling New Details Of Bucha Massacre As Ukraine Marks 1,000 Days Of War
4Putin Says Russia Fired New Intermediate Missile At Ukraine After ICBM Accusations
5Could U.S. Long-Range Missiles Tip The Balance In The Ukraine War?
6Wider Europe Briefing: Georgia's Vanishing EU Dreams
7Steps Too Far As Moscow, Washington Cross 'Red Lines' Over Ukraine?
8Ukraine Live Briefing: Verkhovna Rada Closes Over Strike Fears
9At Least 21 Dead In Russian Missile Strikes In Ukraine's Odesa, Sumy
10The Far-Right Firebrand Too Dangerous To Run For Romania's Presidency
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
