Rome: A television ad in which Italian nuns are offered potato chips instead of communion wafers has provoked the ire of conservative Catholics.
They are demanding that the advert for Amica Chips be withdrawn immediately because it is blasphemous.
Conservative Catholics say the advert should be withdrawn immediately because it is blasphemous.Credit: twitter.com/GianLink
In the 30-second advertisement, a group of young nuns are seen filing through a cloister into a chapel. Their mother superior finds there are no communion wafers left so fills up a chalice with chips.
As the novices line up in front of a bespectacled priest, they are surprised to be given chips instead of the holy sacrament, with the lead nun opening her eyes wide in astonishment as the salty snack crunches in her mouth.
The camera then pans back to the mother superior, who is enthusiastically digging into a large bag of chips.
An association of Catholic television viewers said the ad, shown on Italian TV channels and social media, “offends the sensibility of millions of practising Catholics”.
Giovanni Baggio, the president of the association, called for “the immediate suspension” of the “blasphemous” ad, adding that it showed a “lack of respect”.
Avvenire, a newspaper owned by the Italian Bishops Conference, also said it was offended. “Christ reduced to a crisp. Debased and vilified as he was 2000 years ago. Amica Chips has once again chosen provocation as a means of communication,” it said in an editorial.