Lady Gaga has said the video for her new single 'Judas' is a celebration of faith.

The video sees Lady Gaga dressed as Mary Magdalene and has already come under fire from religious groups, despite not yet being released.

Earlier this month, The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights branded the video is a publicity stunt.

Lady Gaga, a devout Roman Catholic, told MSN the video contained a lot of religious symbolism and was not intended to challenge faith.

"Well, I want to allow the video to speak for itself but I will say that the theme of the video and the way that I wanted to aesthetically portray the story was as a motorcycle Fellini movie where the apostles are revolutionaries in a modern-day Jerusalem," she said.

"And I play Mary Magdalene leading them into the town where we meet Jesus and I will leave the rest for you to see. But it's meant more to celebrate faith than it is to challenge it."

Lady Gaga will reportedly debut the video for 'Judas' on American Idol next week.

(by Jason Gregory)