Thank God for the German and Austrian Catholics. As bad as things are in the Church in the US, the German-speaking Catholics of Europe are on a mission to show us how much worse it could be. Case in point: Gerald Augustinus points us to the web site of a musical about a prostitute called “Erotica” that is being performed in churches. Not in church halls, mind you, but right there in the sanctuaries, complete with woman parading around in lingerie. It must do wonders for getting teen boys back to church.
I am constantly amazed at God’s mercy. Right there in His sanctuary, where the Son of God offers up His sacrifice to the Father, is this pagan-sex ritual. It’s amazing that God doesn’t just flatten the place with a lightning bolt or meteorite. Thank God for His mercy, but His justice will always come eventually.
Re: It’s amazing that God doesn’t just flatten the place with a lightning bolt or meteorite.
Most of them haven’t noticed, but the barbarians are massing at the gates again.
They may have lost at Lepanto, but that was largely because Pope Pius V was able to rally a massive Rosary Crusade in the hour of need.
Will Benedict manage to awaken 21st Century Christians on time?
You may be right about this taking place in a church, but I’m not totally convinced by the pictures at the Erotica website. The last 12 appear to be taken of the cast on a stage.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Another way to put it: What one forgets, they are destined to repeat.
Babylonian captivity, anyone? Europe is getting there, whether they’re noticing it or not.
Carrie,
Gerald at the Cafeteria is Closed has some pictures that make it clear that the cast members are in a church.
http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2006/04/if-you-thought-vagina-monologues-were.html
However, even if some of the performaces have been done on a stage the fact remains that others have been done in churches. (The article Gerald links to is in German, so I’ll take his word for it that it says what he claims it says.)
I wonder – seriously – what the storyline is. While the costumes could and should be far more modest, and plays shouldn’t be performed in the sanctuary, if it’s a story of redemption on the lines of Mary Magdalene, that could be a good thing.
Speaking of prostitutes in Germany, some local gov’t there had a plan to assist women leave prostitution by training them as nurses. That’s an awesome idea, and hopefully something the Church there will assist with in some way, if it all comes to pass.
Take care, all
I looked at Gerald’s website, Melanie, and was not convinced by the pictures there, either. Yes, there is a cross, but it could be part of the props. As for the organ pipes, well, on my monitor, they are not that easy to distinguish.
I don’t read German. Perhaps Gerald does, and that would explain why he makes the claims he makes. German aside, he still might be right; but I guess I’d rather keep the doubt than have to believe this scandal is authentic.
How bad does it have to get before we begin to see a turn-around?
I do read German, and because of the discussion at hand, I decided to see if I could settle this question of whether or not it was performed in churches. Indeed it was. On their website they have a forum, in which the first poster asked them why they felt the need to perform it in a church, and why could they not have performed it elsewhere?
One of the actresses gave an answer which I found not at all surprising, and I will give you my translation of it (bad or good as my translation may be.) One note: Jugendkirche translates literally as YouthChurch, and I don’t really know what that is. I assume it is a place of worship designated for young adults (that would be people about the ages of 18 to almost 30). And to reiterate that these are NOT my thoughts, I am simply telling you what the actress said.
Why such a project in a Jugendkirche? This project often has more to do with the church and faith than an outsider can perhaps imagine. It not only concerns the effect on someone, but it is also about the path there. The play talks about values, standards, right and duty, faith and much more. To me, the conflict within one’s own person, the reality and exchange of ideas can find room and time here. Our play should make no direct statements about prostitutes, it should encourage thought. We hope that everyone can take something home from this play. After all, it is about the strongest emotion, love, the search for faith, the meaning of life. We do not intend with this play to provoke: that is nevertheless does so is something we are aware of. Still, even “churchpeople” should not close their eyes to this subject-matter. Unfortunately our world isn’t all roses! And also, if the play does not please one person or another (in the Church), I would like to once more mention here that we pay no one… We are trained actors (who in the eyes of many have perhaps sought out an inappropriate location), but many young people have been brought back, through such projects, to the church, to faith. It is the function of a Jugendkirche (also) to bring the youth together there where they stand, to come to them in their interests. Everything else is the outdated church, and they the familar and comprehensible path from all the youth.
Hopefully everyone who feels attacked finds understanding in these words. We stand as actors on the stage, and at the end of the evening we have not truly been prostitutes (prostituted ourselves), that must surely be said.
Sorry for my typos.
I meant to say “that it nevertheless does so” and later on “Everything else is the outdated church, and they alienate the familiar and…”
From an explanation by Gerald, I believe these YouthChurches are like Protestant “seeker churches” here. To use an retail analogy, they’re like Baby Gap to regular Gap. They are parishes completely designed to appeal to a particular demographic. Yeah, that’s the universality of the Church.
The only conclusion I can draw is that the culture in Germany must be much more degenerate than what we are familiar with. Such a thing here would still raise parental eyebrows, I think. But then again, considering the language used in rock music and sex ed classes, the clothing mothers buy for 8-year-old girls, Barbie dolls becoming the playthings of 6-year-olds…well, maybe I’m just old-fashioned and out of touch.
Carrie,
If you are old fashioned and out of touch, then I wish that more people were in the same boat.