A CARNIVAL group's plans to parade with giant Adam and Eve dolls simulating fornication has angered the Catholic Church.
The parade to be staged by the Grande Rio samba group, entitled Let's Wear the Little Shirt, My Love - slang for Let's Wear a Condom, My Love - is a paean to safe sex, says its designer Joaosinho Trinta.
Rio's Archbishop Reverend Eusebio Oscar Scheid sees things differently.
"If it seeks to discredit, in the eyes of the world, Rio's carnival - that can be so beautiful - through one or another indecorous or unacceptable scene, then justice should intervene for the common good," Scheid told reporters yesterday.
The annual carnival blowout, a bit like Mardi Gras but on a grander scale, is traditionally a time for Brazilians to drink and dance the night away.
It is also a major event for the federal government's anti-AIDS program, which distributes millions of free condoms across the nation during the five-day, pre-Lenten bash.
The highlight is a two-day parade of 14 neighbourhood groups, each with ornate floats, an earsplitting 300-piece percussion section and up to 4000 costumed dancers.
Clashes between carnival groups and the Catholic Church have become increasingly frequent in recent years.
Last year, the Beija-Flor group planned a parade in which a figure dressed as Christ was to descend from the cross with a gun to shoot it out with the devil.
The Catholic Church protested the scene, and the group toned it down for the parade.
In 2000, Church officials sued to have Catholic symbols removed from the floats of the Unidos da Tijuca group.
And in 1989 the church sued to ban another Trinta-designed parade, featuring Rio's famous Christ statue on a carnival float.
Trinta wrapped the statue in black plastic and posted a sign: "Even though you are banned, watch over us."
This year, Trinta reportedly invited the archbishop to visit the workshop where the parade's floats and Karma Sutra-inspired costumes are being assembled.