I don't necessarily agree with the catholic church and I'll keep my thoughts about it to myself in this response. But where is the outrage? Seriously if it were any other religion and Hollywood did this there would be mass hysteria and outrage. Are Catholics not upset about this? As a Christian what Jared Leto was portraying was blasphemous. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Wow, I thought most of the outfits were quite lovely, and some were stunning.

I guess I don't understand what is blasphemous about it, but I'm not overly religious.

The theme was Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.

Of course, actors will always go overboard and see who can be more outrageous. Some were fine, others Halloweenish.

Chi, Rhianna had a pope influenced dress, so I think for some this might be offensive.

I thought the intent was to represent the catholic (lower case c intentional) imagination until I saw the outfits.

Ha, I saw that in a news blurb but wasn't paying attention to what event it was! I actually thought it was a costume party :-)

But the Vatican not only approved of the show, but they also lent around 50 items, accessories and garments for it. If the Vatican approves, why are people still offended?

As the cardinal archbishop of New York, who attended, put it, "But think about it just for a moment," he continued. "It’s because the Church and the Catholic imagination—the theme of this exhibit—are all about three things: truth, goodness and beauty. That’s why we’re into things such as art, culture, music, literature and, yes, even fashion.’’

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/fashion/heavenly-bodies-met-gala-vatican.html

The catholic church is getting involved in too many worldly things if you ask me. But that's just my opinion. What does a fashion show have to do with the church, saving peoples souls and God? I can guarantee you most of those celebrities aren't Godly people. And the Vatican "approving" it doesn't make me feel any better about it. If anything people should be worried that the Vatican has their hand in this idol worship instead of all the other problems going on in the world.

That's interesting. I like this version of the Catholic Church much more than the one I was baptised into. It's less rigid and exclusionary than it used to be, and that's a good thing.

What does a fashion show have to do with the church, saving peoples souls and God? I can guarantee you most of those celebrities aren't Godly people.

I would think that those who need to be most involved with the church are those who are not Godly. "The church is not a museum of saints, but a hospital for sinners."

I hope everyone understands what the Met Gala is. It's basically a fund raiser for the opening of the Metropolitan Museum's fashion exhibit. Many Millions of dollars are raised for the Met on the night of the gala. Every year the theme is different. without fund raisers and wealthy celebrities who bring awareness the arts would be in trouble.

^^^

Especially with the current administration.

I thought most of the "fashion" was abominable.

I liked Kerry Washington, a simple backless gold gown, I thought it was very becoming.

I thought the theme was odd. But as a rosary-carrying Catholic (although not a very good one i will admit) I was not offended.

Hareball does have a point though. Any other (non-christian) religious theme would have caused an uproar. It is the way of our world. Its okay for Rihanna to dress up as the slut-pope (anyone who knows the history of said church knows that's not too far fetched) But heaven forbid (no pun intended) that Kim Kardashian wears her hair in braids or someone says something about a fat chick being fat. You are only allowed to parody or make fun of certain groups. Stupid but that's the way it is.

As for the fashion, some of it, even if it was a costume, was just plain ugly. And it made the person wearing it look ugly. Even Rihanna's slut pope costume became her(go figure).

hareball... could you please explain the need for outrage??

I felt it was extremely disrespectful of the Christian religion. I don't think _any_ religion's symbols and iconography should be used as fashion inspiration or accessories.

From what I read and understood the MET has been haggling for YEARS with the Vatican to get a few pieces for a costume exhibit. It sounds like the secular world just wore them down and my gut says the curator who approved the lending of Vatican holdings lost track of exactly what would be on parade and display that night. The assertion was The Roman Catholic Church has been portrayed over the years in film, maybe they believe the portrayal has been instrumental in the development of costuming? One does have to be a person of piety and deep understanding of Catholicism to comprehend why many found the costumes on parade blasphemous and in extremely poor taste, i.e. you just don't mess with The Sacred Heart. Priests are men and men are imperfect and sinners. Poking fun at the priesthood or even the pope is a HUGELY different thing than messing with Christ and His Sacred Heart. The cardinal is of the mind any publicity is good publicity. Two extreme views perhaps. The fact that many of the guests are as far from "believers" or people of faith, who have vocally and frequently done all they can to insult and misrepresent the Church, made it impossible for me to see the "all in good fun" perspective. The outrage is there--but again this points out very clearly how adept the media is at screening what outrage and what offense it will or will not cover in the news. Sadly many people were poorly catechized and left the Church hurt mostly due to their lack of comprehension over Church Doctrine. Those people have a louder voice than those of us who get that while a certain HUMAN priest pastored poorly that is no reason to disregard the entire institution. I am deeply sorry for those who experienced poor pastors. The outrage often expressed here from many "fallen away" Catholics, tells me the wounds are still festering and I would suggest seeking out good and intelligent pastors or lay people to work through that pain. The Holy Spirit is knocking.

arcy, at key points in my life I was lucky to have pastors whose delivery "clicked" with me. Even within a single denomination, styles vary -- which I guess is good, because what reaches me might not reach you. To experience an actual bad spiritual leader ... must be devastating.

To get back to the gowns. One that I liked was worn by the person with Nick Cave (I know his music, so can remember his name, not hers). Link here might work, or you can google 'Met Gala 2018 Nick Cave.' It's deep red velvet, medieval head dress, gathered into roses at shoulder and hip, elegant and flowing. Immediately sprang to mind the Fairport Convention song: "Now Be Thankful for good things below; Now be thankful to your Maker; For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know ...".

Arcy, has the Catholic church changed their stance that premarital sex, birth control, IVF, abortions (for all reasons) and homosexuality are sins? If not, how does the choice of pastor matter? I'm curious how the delivery of such messages matter if one doesn't believe in them anyway.

Unless I'm not comprehending church doctrine and these are no longer considered sins? That would be great news.

I guess I don't subscribe the fact that priests, the pope, etc. are anything more than ordinary people. They no more or less holy than anyone else. If Christ is in you, then live like He is, because you are His holy vessel. That is what makes one holy. And only that. Anything else is some misguided presumption. I'm pretty sure Jesus spent a lot of time pointing that specific fact out to the sadducees and pharisees.

Dress designers were given a task by the Met and with the imagination that God supposedly gave them they went ahead and designed how they interpreted the task. Those who wore the costumes, because that is what they are, wore them of their own free will, something else that God gave them. I'm not sure where the outrage comes into play.

The fact that many of the guests are as far from "believers" or people of faith, who have vocally and frequently done all they can to insult and misrepresent the Church, made it impossible for me to see the "all in good fun" perspective.

Yes this is what I was trying to say when I said the were far from being Godly people. And yes I know church is full of sinners but the are there to find God. These people like Arcy said frequently insult the church in the name of "good fun". And we're supposed to just get over it. Like I said above if it were any other religion this would have never happened or there would have been outrage.

arcy_gw I wish I could like your post again and again it explained what I was trying to say perfectly.

I guess I don't subscribe the fact that priests, the pope, etc. are anything more than ordinary people.

I agree with this also. The pope is just a man and should not be worshiped in the way that he is.

I like that we've been able to have a nice civil discussion about this. Thank you all for that. :)