Updated on June 8, 2026
PARIS (LifeSiteNews) — Historic Catholic churches in Paris played host to blasphemous art events as part of a Nuit Blanche festival last week under the direction of LGBT activist and singer Barbara Butch.
On June 6 and 7, several historic Catholic churches in the French capital were reportedly used to display voodoo artefacts and play “unsettling” sounds with the approval of the Archdiocese of Paris, igniting protests over the use of consecrated churches for projects contrary to Catholic worship.
“At the end of the day, we are in a church. I do not understand,” one visitor reportedly said inside Saint-Laurent Church, according to Tribune Chrétienne.
As shown by several videos circulating online, some Catholic demonstrators gathered in front of the Church of Saint-Laurent to kneel, pray, and protest peacefully. Despite this, the authorities deemed it appropriate to call the police, who dispersed the demonstrators, even using force. Among the protesters were also old and young women.
Here’s the actual story: the leadership of a historic Catholic parish invited a famous pervert activist to “sing” a concert inside the church. The faithful show up to pray on the steps; same leadership calls cops to rough up the Catholics. https://t.co/Exc0SBdBj6
— Hilary White (@HilarityjaneArt) June 7, 2026
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“The real question is that of the responsibility of the Diocese of Paris. Because without its consent, none of the installations presented in the churches could have come into being,” the report states. “The most controversial installations could never have been presented in these buildings without the explicit approval of the diocesan authorities.”
One of the central attractions of the festival was Sous la peau du ciel (“Under the Skin of the Sky”), installed inside the Saint-Laurent Church in Paris. According to the official presentation by French media, visitors were invited to record personal wishes by telephone. These messages were then mixed with atmospheric sounds and digital audio effects to create what organizers described as a living and constantly evolving sound environment.
During the event, loudspeakers were placed throughout the church, including around chapels, altars, the baptistery, and confessionals. Visitors moved through a darkened interior while layers of recorded voices overlapped continuously. Tribune Chrétienne reported hearing messages expressing mundane personal desires, creating a strange and “unsettling atmosphere” inside a building ordinarily dedicated to prayer, the Mass, and Eucharistic worship.
Another installation drew attention at the chapel of Tenon Hospital. There, artist Stéphane Blanquet presented Jungle haletante, a work featuring masks and objects inspired by voodoo imagery. Visitors encountered displays accompanied by whispers, breathing sounds, metallic noises and creaking effects. According to Tribune Chrétienne, the artist himself described the project as exploring an “unstable perception of reality” in an “almost hypnotic” manner.
Tribune Chrétienne also reported that Nuit Blanche 2026 operated with a budget of €1.3 million ($1.49 million). The publication ultimately argued that the principal question raised by the controversy is not the conduct of the artists, who openly present their own vision of “culture,” but the decisions of the ecclesiastical authorities who permitted these projects to take place inside the churches.
The Archdiocese of Paris has not provided detailed explanations regarding the criteria used to authorize the project.
Barbara Butch, who organized the city-wide event, gained notoriety following the controversy surrounding the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony, a performance that the she regarded as a parody of the Last Supper, provoking international criticism and widespread accusations of blasphemy.