Church Not Happy With Becks New Fashion Accessory
Thursday, October 28, 2004

Rosary beads are the hot new fashion accessory, but the country's Roman Catholic Church is not amused. David Beckham and Britney Spears have both been photographed wearing them, prompting a surge in sales at jewellery shops and religious suppliers.

Fearing the beads are being trivialised, English and Welsh Bishops have issued a special leaflet that gives guidance on their use as prayer aids.

"David Beckham and his wife Victoria may pray with the rosary every night -- I have no idea," said Father Allen Morris, who is secretary of the Church's Department for Christian Life and Worship.

"They look very nice but it is a great pity if they are only being used as a decoration and not for devotional purposes."

Morris said celebrities were "not doing wicked things and leading us astray. But I am sorry that people are wearing them as fashion accessories and are not mindful of their religious significance."

Beckham appeared on the front cover of Vanity Fair magazine wearing a "rosary necklace" and Britney Spears was photographed on a Dublin street wearing rosary beads.

The beads are traditionally used by Roman Catholics to count off prayers.

It was the crucifix that used to be the hot fashion item.

Pop star Madonna, herself a lapsed Catholic, draped the stage in religious imagery for her 1990 "Blonde Ambition" concert tour which The Vatican called "one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity".

Father Morris noted that the rosary also bears a crucifix. "It is a very odd thing to wear as a piece of decoration. The cross is an instrument of torture. Why not wear an electric chair?"

But Kristina Cooper, editor of the Good News Magazine for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, said the trend could be put to positive use, arguing "This fashion is a great opportunity for evangelisation."

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