Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour is causing more controversy across Europe - Bulgarian church officials are urging the public to protest her performance in the capital Sofia on Saturday (29Aug09).
The Sorry hitmaker's show at the Vasil Levski Stadium is expected to be attended by 50,000 ticket holders on the same day Orthodox Christians mark the beheading of Saint John the Baptist with a day of fasting.
The Church of Bulgaria has condemned the concert for showing disrespect to Christianity.
A statement on the church website reads: "The Holy Synod expresses its disapproval and disagreement with such musical artistic events which, in many cases, openly profane Christian symbols and events. Louise Esther Ciccone, with almost every concert in a Christian country, displays a disrespectful and intolerant attitude to the religious feelings of the Christians there."
The controversy comes just weeks after Madonna upset a group of Polish nationalists, who branded her a "a crypto-Satanist" for planning her concert in Warsaw on the day of the the Assumption of Mary feast - a special holy date in the Catholic Church.