The Bishop of Antwerp Johan Bonny has criticised opera production “Sancta,” calling it inappropriate to “grotesquely trample on Christianity.”
In “Sancta,” lesbian nuns on roller skates are shown walking to church naked.
Several young Roman Catholics brought the performance to the attention of the Bishop of Antwerp Johan Bonny, who published an opinion piece in Flemish daily De Standaard on Wednesday. In it, he said it was “grotesque to trample on Christianity.”
Speaking on VRT TV he added: “Young people, who mean well, let me know that they wanted to protest against the performance. I then looked at the images the organisation is using to promote the show and decided that their protest is justified.”
“I have nothing against naked women floating through the air. What matters to me is the identification with religious life. The actresses are all wearing nun’s veils, which makes it clear that it is a religious community offering the spectacle,” explains Bonny.
“If any group can laugh, it’s Christians and Catholics. When it comes to nudity, go to the cathedral. There’s been more than enough of that hanging there since Rubens’s time. We do have a sense of humour; this is about respect for people.”
“All these elderly nuns won’t react; they can’t go out onto the streets anymore, but it’s too easy to make money and sell a show at their expense.”
The Bishop of Antwerp misses a logic in the protection of religious beliefs: "The Jewish community here in Antwerp is sent police and the army to combat the slightest hint of possible anti-Semitism. For the Muslim community, extreme vigilance is exercised to ensure Ramadan proceeds peacefully. And rightly so; we support that as well. But psychological mockery is also a form of violence,” Bonny concludes.
Let’s not fall into a witch hunt
Jan Vandenhouwe, artistic director of the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, refutes the bishop’s comments. “We shouldn’t exaggerate the situation either. We’ve now received about 10 emails, all from the same source: a student association that was also active in Germany regarding this production. It’s an ultra-conservative Catholic movement that staged a pro-life protest in front of our building just a few months ago.”
He believes that the Catholic Church is not deliberately targeted in the performance.
“The visual language of the Catholic faith has shaped our Western art history. When you visit museums and churches, you see those images of the Descent from the Cross, violence, and blood as well. It is those images with which Holzinger (the Austrian choreographer) engages in dialogue.”
Above all, Vandenhouwe does not want society to fall back into “a kind of witch hunt against art that is critical or feminist, or that touches on difficult themes.”
And Bishop Bonny is always welcome to come and see the performance, says the artistic director. “We’ll save a seat for him; I’d love to talk with him afterwards.”
Bonny thanks him politely: “I won’t be attending out of respect for my dignity. My thoughts this week are with the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, and all the people who are going through that in the world today.”