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A McDonald's Opened Next To The Vatican And People Are Furious

The controversial fast-food restaurant has been nicknamed "McVatican." Wikimedia Commons
Joanna Fantozzi|

McDonald's is trying to conquer Italy, but Italians are fighting back. First, the city of Florence moved to break a contract with the fast-food giant that would build a restaurant next to the Duomo. Now, the highly controversial McVatican — a McDonald's that opened in a building owned by the Vatican, mere yards from where the Pope lives — has opened. The McDonald's currently occupies the bottom floor of a building where multiple cardinals and other Vatican officials live.

The opening of the 5,800-square-foot fast-food restaurant was low-key, according to NBC News. WiFi is available inside and the restaurant is open from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

When the McDonald's opening was announced, Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told La Repubblica in October that the decision to open the fast-food restaurant was "aberrant" and "a perversion."

The internet has a lot to say about this, naturally:

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