--- description: Vatican police have arrested a topless protester who attempted to steal a baby Jesus figure from a Vatican Nativity scene on Christmas Day title: Topless Activist Snatches Jesus Statue From Vatican Nativity image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt496b77ebb8a6f108/6988f67d0a4a22050e9d1357/rtx3yfea.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Vatican](/tag/vatican/) ## Vatican Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Topless Protester Tried to Snatch a Baby Jesus Figure From the Vatican's Nativity Scene by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 26, 2017 4:41 AM CUT  Vatican gendarmes attempt to block a topless activist of women's rights group Femen, who tries to reach the Nativity scene in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican Dec. 25, 2017. Vatican gendarmes attempt to block a topless activist of women's rights group Femen, who tries to reach the Nativity scene in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican Dec. 25, 2017.Alessandro Bianchi—Reuters by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 26, 2017 4:41 AM CUT Vatican police have arrested a topless Femen protester who [attempted to steal](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/25/europe/topless-protester-baby-jesus-vatican-trnd/index.html "undefined") a statue of baby Jesus from a Vatican Nativity scene on Christmas Day. The activist, who had the slogan “God is Woman” painted on her back, jumped the guard rails in St. Peter’s Square and attempted to snatch the figure a couple of hours before the Pope delivered his Christmas message on Monday, CNN reports. She was detained before she could take the statue. The act was a meant to highlight the Vatican’s “infringement of the rights of women to their own bodies,” according to a statement from the international feminist organization Femen, who claimed the would-be thief, Ukrainian activist Alisa Vinogradova, as its member. These infringements include the Pope’s stance on abortion and “sacred condemnation” of contraception, the Femen statement said. The organization also explained the slogan on Vinogradova’s chest: “A child is not from a god, but from a woman! For a woman is God!” it said. The anti-patriarchy group previously made [another foiled attempt](http://time.com/3647770/vatican-activist-baby-jesus-femen-topless/ "undefined") to steal the Vatican Nativity’s baby Jesus doll in 2014. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5079353/femen-vatican-nativity-jesus-statue/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5079353/femen-vatican-nativity-jesus-statue/"},"headline":"A Topless Protester Tried to Snatch a Baby Jesus Figure From the Vatican's Nativity Scene","datePublished":"2017-12-26T04:41:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:40:48.241Z","description":"Her bare chest bore the slogan \"God is Woman\"","url":"https://time.com/5079353/femen-vatican-nativity-jesus-statue/","keywords":["Vatican","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt496b77ebb8a6f108/6988f67d0a4a22050e9d1357/rtx3yfea.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt496b77ebb8a6f108/6988f67d0a4a22050e9d1357/rtx3yfea.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A Vatican gendarme attempts to block a topless activist of women's rights group Femen, who tries to reach the Nativity scene in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican","caption":"A Vatican gendarme attempts to block a topless activist of women's rights group Femen, who tries to reach the Nativity scene in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican","creditText":"Alessandro Bianchi—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/vatican/","name":"Vatican"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5079353/femen-vatican-nativity-jesus-statue/","name":"A Topless Protester Tried to Snatch a Baby Jesus Figure From the Vatican's Nativity Scene"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Pope Francis Calls for a Two-State Solution to Find Peace in the Middle East","description":"Lamenting “the winds of war” blowing around the world, Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Monday called for a two-state solution to find peace in the Middle East and prayed that confrontation can be overcome on the Korean Peninsula.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lYV9rZj4/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-12-26T05:58:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lYV9rZj4.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5079353/femen-vatican-nativity-jesus-statue/","duration":"PT3M17S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5079353/femen-vatican-nativity-jesus-statue/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```