Model Marisa Papen stirred up a massive controversy on Monday when she weighed in on the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris, France.
Papen has faced backlash for her religiously charged photoshoots and statements before, but on Monday its proximity to the tragic fire was too much for some people. The Playboy model doubled down on her past anti-religious and anti-church rhetoric, saying, according to The Sun, that she “couldn’t care less” that the cathedral burned down.
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While she appreciates “the architectural art and beauty” of the cathedral, Papen said: “What’s built of nature, belongs to nature. So nature shall reclaim. For a long time, we have shown no respect for nature. We have depleted the Earth to build something to honor ‘God.’”
Papen continued, saying it is time to “look at our real God beneath our feet, our Earth instead of blindly staring into the sky.”
I wish everyone were as involved with nature as with this Notre Dame,” she went on.
Papen even remarked that “perhaps all the archives of child pornography went up in flames as well,” referencing the Catholic church’s continued issues with child abuse. Many responded to Papen directly on social media.
I’m not a churchgoer Marisa… but your endorsement of destruction of property is unacceptable,” one person tweeted. “Besides, not every church individual is responsible for the abuse that you mentioned!!! [sic].
Papen’s work often centers around radical nudity in places of historical or religious importance. Late last year, she got into trouble with the authorities in Rome, Italy, when she posed nude in various places around Vatican City. She was photographed carrying a crucifix through the streets, wearing nothing but a rosary in broad daylight and even rubbing a crucifix on her genitals in an odd ritual.
Papen has gone after other religious establishments in the past as well. She was once condemned for posing naked in front of Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall. On a visit to Turkey, she shocked the world of Islam by raising her burka to expose herself inside of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia. The building was once a Byzantine church, then an Ottoman mosque before it became a museum.
The Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire on Monday afternoon, and the sight of it burning took over news outlets and live streams online. The historic landmark survived remarkably well, with its iconic rose windows all reportedly intact after the blaze.
