From the Gospel : a transgressive message of love

Abstract

Many who followed the popular Italian song festival Sanremo this year were left with mixed feelings. Italian singer Achille Lauro, known for his provocative style, poured water on his head on stage, in an act in which he appeared as though he was ‘baptising’ himself. Lauro’s act created quite a stir. Italian social media was ablaze and divided over the act, that many described as scandalous and blasphemous. Pressed for its own view, the Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano, however, had a completely different take, comparing Lauro’s transgressive mime with the much more transgressive message of the Gospel. “By wanting to be transgressive at all costs,” the editors wrote, “the singer has turned to the Catholic imagination. Nothing new. There has never been in history a message more transgressive than that of the Gospel.”