Topless female protester tries to steal baby Jesus from Vatican Nativity scene
A gendarme from the Vatican's security forces stops a Ukrainian feminist group Femen activist after she snatched the statue of Baby Jesus from the Nativity scene set in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014. (The Associated Press)
A topless female protester tried to steal a statue of baby Jesus from the Vatican's Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square on Christmas Day.
Reuters reports an activist from the feminist group FEMEN jumped over guardrails Monday to try and snatch the religious icon while shouting "God is woman." She had the same message painted on her bare back.
According to Fox News, she was stopped by police and detained, two hours before Pope Francis addressed the Christmas crowd of 50,000 people in the square. Video showed the Vatican gendarme tackling her just as she got her hands on the Jesus figure.
She was later identified as Alisa Vinogradova by FEMEN, a Ukraine-based activist group who says it aims to use "bare breasts" to protest sexual inequality and gain "complete victory over patriarchy." FEMEN's website said Vinogradova, a self-described "sextremist," was protesting the church and its treatment of women.
"FEMEN considers the anti-war policy of the Vatican a rough medieval attack on the freedom of women and their natural rights," the organization said in a statement. "FEMEN encourages women to follow the example of the movement and kidnap babies from religious denominations, thus, stating their right to use of their own body!"
According to Reuters, a similar incident occurred in St. Peter's Square on Christmas Day in 2014. Another FEMEN activist was arrested by the Vatican gendarme after successfully taking the baby Jesus statue out of the Nativity scene that year.
FEMEN, known for topless protests, has followers around the world. Two members with "FEMEN USA" and "Hate out of my polls" painted on their breasts were arrested at Donald Trump's polling place last year before he arrived to cast his vote in the 2016 presidential election.
"We use our bodies to express our ideas," Nada Topaloski said of the incident in New York.
Reference: http://www.syracuse.com/us-news/index.ssf/2017/12/femen_jesus_vatican_nativity_scene.html