Two Polish lawmakers destroy controversial pope statue

WARSAW, Poland (Reuters) -- Two Polish parliamentarians known for their staunch Roman Catholic views have destroyed a controversial statue of Polish-born Pope John Paul displayed at a Warsaw art gallery, local news media reported on Friday.

The deputies said that the statue, which shows the pontiff laying on the ground crushed by what appears to be a meteorite, insulted their religious beliefs, Poland's biggest-circulation daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported.

The deputies, Halina Nowina-Konopka and Witold Tomczak, removed the meteorite rock laying on top of the fallen Pope figure, created by Italian sculptor Maurizio Cattelena.

The act followed a heated media debate in the predominantly Catholic Poland over merits of the statue, displayed in Warsaw's respected and trendy Zacheta gallery.

Catholic fringe groups demanded that the exhibition be shut. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and some Polish bishops have endorsed the statue, saying it showed the heavenly burden which the Pope had to bear each day.

The two deputies are unlikely to face criminal charges while they serve as members of parliament, which gives them immunity.

Last month, another controversial exhibit at the state-owned Zacheta was closed after a leading Polish actor destroyed several portraits of famous actors dressed in Nazi uniforms, which he said glorified the hated German regime.

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