Madonna, whose own on-camera antics have shocked and offended, said Irish singer Sinead O'Connor went too far by tearing up a picture of the pope on American TV.
"I think there's a better way to present her ideas rather than ripping up an image that means a lot to other people," the American pop star said in an interview with Irish state RTE radio in Dublin."If she's against the Roman Catholic Church and she has a problem with them I think she should talk about it," she said.
"I think you have to do more than denigrate a symbol," said Madonna, who was raised in a Roman Catholic home.
O'Connor has publicly railed against the church-state relationship in Ireland, including prohibitions on divorce and abortion.
On the Oct. 3 episode of "Saturday Night Live," she stood behind a Rastafarian scarf and several candles to sing "War," a protest song by the late Jamaican reggae star, Bob Marley, another critic of Catholicism.
Afterward, she exhorted the audience to "fight the real enemy," then held up a photo of Pope John Paul II and ripped it up.