German churches find 'chocolate Jesus' tasteless

Germany's churches have criticized a businessman for selling thousands of Jesus chocolates.

Frank Oynhausen set up his "Sweet Lord" chocolate Jesus-making business saying he wanted to restore some traditional religious values to Christmas in Germany. But the German Protestant Church criticized the idea as "tasteless" and the Roman Catholic Church was not amused.

"I started thinking about how I could reintroduce traditional religious values into this commercial world," said Oynhausen. Together with a friend, a local chocolatier, Oynhausen, 54, developed the concept of "Sweet Lord."



It is growing fast in his home town of Duisburg and on the internet. Oynhausen said thousands of people have put in orders for the figures wrapped in gold foil.

But church associations expressed dismay."It is terrible that Jesus is being wrapped up in gold foil and sold along with chocolate bunnies, edible penguins and lollipops," said Aegidius Engel, a spokesman for the archbishopric of nearby Paderborn.

"This is ruining the symbol of Jesus himself," he added.

GoldJesus website.