Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton has been dragged into a controversy over a painting of the Blessed Virgin stained with elephant dung in a New York exhibition opening this week.
The painting called The Holy Virgin Mary is by a British artist of Nigerian descent, Chris Ofili, and is part of the exhibition of young artists from the Saatchi collection which has already been shown in London.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is Mrs Clinton's rival for the New York Senate seat, has denounced the painting as anti-Catholic and "sick". He has aroused widespread criticism, however, by threatening to cut off $8 million in funding for the Brooklyn Museum of Art where the exhibition will run until January.
Mr William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, denounced the painting as "scatological and blasphemous" and wrote to Mrs Clinton asking for her position.
Mrs Clinton, who is campaigning in New York, at first said she did not have enough information, but has now joined in criticism of Mr Giuliani for his "very wrong response" by his threat to cut the museum's funding.
Mr Giuliani has seized on Mrs Clinton's remarks to accuse her of countenancing attacks on Catholicism. Mrs Clinton, who is a Methodist, has defended her views by citing the position of Mr Peter Vallone, the speaker of the city council and a Catholic.
"I think Peter Vallone - who is a devout Catholic, who attends Mass every day - understands that it is not appropriate to penalise and punish an institution such as Brooklyn museum that has served this community with distinction over many years and that employs over 500 people."
Museum director Mr Arnold Lehman said "the idea of this painting is to, in fact, venerate the Virgin Mary as the nourisher of black Africa and of soil".