A Catholic school in Adelaide has been forced to cover up a recently erected statue of St Martin de Porres handing a boy a small loaf of bread because of its ‘potentially suggestive’ nature.

The move, according to this report, came after pictures of the saint began popping up on social media, giving rise to both merriment and disbelief.

The statue was unveiled at Blackfriars Priory School in Adelaide last week. The stone sculpture is believed to be a reference to the saint’s ability to multiply food and drink, most notably bread.

An image of the statue was first posted on popular Instagram page “S***Adelaide” and quickly gained over 2,700 likes while garnering a string of comments questioning the positioning of the staff of life.

Most of the comments expressed disbelief over the apparent sexual nature of the commissioned work while others made references to an unfortunate history of Catholic priests abusing young boys.

One Instagram user wrote.

WOW! That’s just awful no one twigged before it got unveiled. How shocking is that?!?!

Another joked:

Brings a new meaning to the phrase bread stick haha.

The school was forced to cover the statue in a large, black sheet wrapped in tape before setting up temporary fencing around it.

Blackfriars Priory School’s Principal, Simon Cobiac, today released a statement via the school’s Facebook page:



According to Wiki, the Peruvian is the patron saint of mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and all those seeking racial harmony.

Hat tip: BarrieJohn