A Catholic church located in Vienna’s central cemetery will host a “silent disco” type event on April 17.
For six hours, the temple will be used as a dance floor, with electronic music and a nightclub atmosphere.
If this is already scandalous, even more so are the words of the rector, who has supported the event by stating that faith is not limited to contemplation, but also includes “lightness” and “joy of living”.
A nightclub inside a consecrated church
The initiative, driven by the company Friedhöfe Wien , responsible for the management of the city’s cemeteries, will turn the Church of St. Charles Borromeo into a dance floor for several hours.
The event will take place between 8:00 PM and 2:00 AM. Two DJs will broadcast music on different channels and attendees, equipped with wireless headphones, will be able to switch between them while dancing inside the temple.
The repertoire will include genres such as house, electronic, hip-hop, pop, indie or rock, in a format that, despite its apparent ambient silence, follows the logic of a nightclub.
The organizers argue that the “silent” nature of the event —based on the use of headphones— allows preserving respect for the place.
The organizers insist that the goal is to promote encounters and create new formats that bring the cemetery closer to society, overcoming “fears” or resistances towards these spaces.
The justification: “joy” and “encounter”
The rector of the church, Jan Soroka, has defended the initiative by stating that faith is not limited to silence and contemplation, but also includes “lightness” and “joy of living”.
According to his words, “a ‘silent disco’ can also show that faith does not only know silence and contemplation”, adding that where people “laugh, dance and are together, there the Church becomes visible”.
A temple in a cemetery turned into an “events space”
The of St. Charles Borromeo, built between 1908 and 1911 in the heart of Vienna’s Central Cemetery, is not a desecrated building or a cultural venue, but a consecrated temple linked to prayer for the deceased and the celebration of funerals.
However, the proposal is framed within a broader strategy of reconverting the cemetery into a multifunctional space, where activities such as yoga, concerts, cafes or leisure initiatives have already been introduced.
In this context, the church is presented as a meeting place or a “historical location” suitable for hosting events, integrating into a broader cultural offer.
In recent years, several churches and cathedrals, especially in northern European countries like Germany or the United Kingdom, have hosted events of this type, presented as initiatives to attract new audiences - especially young people - and generate income for the maintenance of the temples.
In the end, this is not about a one-off excess or a simple cultural initiative.
It is the reflection of a mentality that has stopped distinguishing between the sacred and the profane.
The problem is no longer just in the event, but in the loss of the sense of the temple and the presence of God in it.