Madonna’s 51st birthday celebrations were marred by religious protestors in Poland over the weekend. The ‘oaterial Girl’ performed in Warsaw as part of her ‘Sticky and Sweet’ world tour but not everyone was there to help her celebrate. A group of religious Poles were furious that Madonna was performing on the day that Poland marks the Virgin Mary’s ascension to Heaven. Before Madonna took to the stage, protestors carried flags and religious paintings outside the concert venue.
Madonna herself was brought up Catholic but the controversial singer has renounced her original religion in favour of Kabbalah, which she has practised since 1994. Madonna has also upset the Catholic Church on numerous occasions, most notably dancing in front of burning crosses and kissing a black Jesus in her video for ‘Like a Prayer’ and appearing on a bejeweled cross for her ‘Confessions’ tour. In 1990, the Pope encouraged Italian citizens not to attend her ‘Blond Ambition’ concerts and Madonna was forced to cancel two shows due to poor ticket sales.
Despite the protests, the 80,000 crowd inside were full of love for the famous birthday girl, holding up happy birthday signs and singing ‘oay You Live A Hundred Years’, a traditional Polish birthday song. A grateful Madonna said: “I feel your love. I love what I do, but you regenerate me.” As well as marking her birthday, Madonna also paid tribute to Michael Jackson, saying, “Let’s give it up for one of the greatest artists the world has ever known.”
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