A billboard suggesting a priest could job-share with a man wearing a fetish mask has been labelled a "mockery of the Christian faith" by the Catholic Church.
But the people who put it up have no intention of taking it down.
The billboard on Auckland's Mt Wellington Rd is an advertisement for www.haveyoursay.co.nz - a site that invites Kiwis to "tell the nation what you think about literally anything".
It shows a Venn diagram under the heading "job sharing?" The diagram is made up of two ovals, one representing a clergyman and the other a man in a leather face mask. The ovals overlap, insinuating that the two could job-share.
Readers offended by the billboard contacted the Herald on Sunday.
"I'm not religious or anything, but my girlfriend's dad is a priest and I'm pretty sure he doesn't wear a gimp outfit," said one.
Website spokesman David Savidan said the purpose of the billboard was to "provoke, stimulate and encourage conversation".
The Catholic Church would "most certainly" lay a complaint about the "most offensive" billboard, said spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer.
"It insults not only our Catholic priests, but also the dedicated clergy of all Christian churches," she said.
anna.leask@hos.co.nz
Billboard ad riles church
The controversial billboard. Photo / Herald on Sunday
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
