Thursday, May 08, 2008

'Celebration of nudity' opposed by Church

The Roman Catholic Church is opposing a nudist beach festival in Sicily billed as a “celebration of nudity” over fears of an invasion of naked sunbathers.

The Church complained after the mayor of Cattolica Eraclea, the village nearest to the planned festival on Capo Bianco recently issued a decree allowing “free use of Capo Bianco by lovers of nude sunbathing”.

But Father Giuseppe Miliziano, the parish priest, said: “The beach belongs to the state, not to the local council. If the state decided to allow people to take their clothes off, there is not much I could do about it. But as far as I am aware no such authorisation has been issued.”

Nude sunbathing is illegal in Italy but a few naturist beaches are authorised by councils if they are patrolled by naturist associations.

The Capo Bianco festival, due to take place between May 23 and May 25, is organised by the Italian Naturist Federation, based in Turin, and the Sicilian Naturist Association. The beach is also near Agrigento and the ruins of Eraclea Minoa.

Marcello Festeggiante, 55, head of the Sicilian association, said that the festival would be attended by more than a hundred naturists. He told the newspaper La Stampa that the event was “open to all who want to get to grips with the history and philosophy of our movement”.

Yesterday Mr Piro said that he had never promised to make Capo Bianco into a permanent nudist beach.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the German poet, wrote in 1787 that he took a “restoring sea bathe” at Capo Bianco after stripping off his clothes.
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