The Italian clothing company Benetton has pulled a digitally-altered ad depicting Pope Benedict XVI kissing a senior Egyptian imam, the BBC is reporting. The ad, which also featured Egypt’s Ahmed el Tayyeb imam of the al-Azhar mosque in Cairo, was pulled after the Vatican launched a strong protest.

The image is part of a global advertising campaign. Other ads include US President Barak Obama kissing Chinese President Hu Jintao, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy kissing German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Of the ad featuring Pope Benedict, Vatican spokesman Federico Lomabardi released a statement, calling it an “absolutely unacceptable use of the image of the Holy Father, manipulated and exploited in a publicity campaign with commercial ads.” He added that the ad shows a “grave lack of respect for the pope, an offense to the feelings of believers, a clear demonstration of how publicity can violate the basic rules of respect for people by attracting attention with provocation.”

The ad was pull after a large banner of the image was displayed near the Vatican on November 16, 2011. However, it was later removed, and Benetton released a written apology. “We are sorry that the use of an image of the pontiff and the imam should have offended the sensibilities of the faithful in this way,” the statement read. Benetton, who is known for its shock ad campaigns, said the purpose of the Pope ad was “solely to battle the culture of hate in all its forms.”

Written by: Karen Benardello