A nativity scene that depicts baby Jesus with two mothers has been met with a polarising reaction and a petition after being unveiled in a church near Naples.
The Mary and Mary set piece, sans Joseph, is now pride of place in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, in the Avellino village of Capocastello di Mercogliano - in Italy’s south west.
But while its proponents have said it represents the times we live in, others have called for its removal with a petition now gathering 21,000 signatures, Reuters has reported.
Father Vitaliano Della Sala, the parish priest, said: “I wanted to show with this scene that families are no longer just the traditional ones.
"In our parishes, we see more and more children from the new types of families that exist and are part of our society, children of separated and divorced people, gay couples, single people, young mothers."
Father Vitaliano has previously represented a more liberal end of the Catholic church and has pointed to the example of Pope Francis who this week allowed priests to bless same-sex couples.
Italy has a population that is almost 80 per cent Catholic and the country forbids birth by surrogacy, while there is currently the possibility of criminalising couples who go abroad to have a child through surrogacy.
Senator Maurizio Gasparri, of the co-ruling Forza Italia party, said the LGBT creche "offends all those who always had respect and devotion for the Holy Family".
The Pro-Vita & Famiglia (Pro-Life and Family) group called it "dangerous, as well as shameful and blasphemous".
Pro-Vita, which launched an online petition calling on the bishop of Avellino to intervene, said the nativity scene contradicted the Church's teachings on the family and legitimised same-sex parenting and surrogacy.
Father Vitaliano has so far withstood pressure to take down the Nativity scene ahead of Christmas but there are still 48 hours for Joseph to make a cameo should he change his mind.
