Madonna meditates with Havel before Prague concert

Sep 7, 2006, 16:15 GMT

Madonna performs on stage at the Sazka Arena in Prague as a part of her Confession Tour of the Czech Republic, Wednesday September 6th, 2006. EPA/BJOERN STEINZ

Prague - Private meditation with a leader of the 1989 Velvet Revolution helped inspire Madonna Thursday before the pop star strutted onstage for her Prague concert.

Vaclav Havel, a former Czech president and communist dissident, joined Madonna backstage for a 'small, private prayer just between her and her people' before the Wednesday night show at a Prague arena, Havel spokesman Jakub Hladik told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Thursday.

'Madonna doesn't usually meet with people before a concert, but Vaclav Havel was the exception,' Hladik said.

The meditation focused on 'the humanistic mission which she tries to promote,' he said, adding that compared with similar Madonna warmups 'it lasted longer than usual.'

Hladik said that 'so far we haven't heard' whether Havel's meeting with the controversial singer bothered religious leaders.

But before Madonna arrived for the Wednesday and Thursday shows - her first appearances in Prague - - Czech church leaders joined others in Europe this summer by objecting to her crucifixion stage prop and crown of thorns.

A spokesman for the head of the nation's Roman Catholics, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, called the show 'entirely unacceptable.'

'It is most undignified that millions can be earned these days through contempt for the Christian faith,' he said.

No clergy participated in the backstage meditation, which ended when Havel presented two of his books to Madonna as gifts, Hladik said.

Since the Czech Republic overthrew communism in 1989, Havel has befriended several big names in music including Lou Reed, Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson. He often attends major rock-music events in Prague and, before retiring in 2003, entertained some at Prague Castle.