PARIS (LifeSiteNews) — An obscene and grotesque performance decried as “demonic” was recently hosted in a desacralized chapel in Paris, formerly the Chapel of St. Joan of Arc.
Scenes of the queer “cabaret” and its ad images evoke hell: Dark and industrial noises, flames on stage and throughout the church, a “snake” and “witch” character, and perverted displays permeate the show.
The organizer, a self-described “LGBTQIA+” group called Cirquefier.e.s, described the event in Instagram promos as a “subversive ritual” and a “narrative about the body” that celebrates “the diversity of identities and individual emancipation.”
“Absolutely everything was sexualized,” noted the French Christian Tribune Media, which covered the event.
Worse, the event takes on a sacrilegious note given that it is performed in a chapel amid sacred imagery, including stained glass window depictions of St. Joan of Arc and, reportedly, crucifixes.
The master of ceremonies referenced the martyrdom of St. Joan of Arc during the show in a sacrilegious manner: “You know that the Reille chapel is not his real name; in real life, it is the Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc chapel, and we will set it on fire!” They exclaimed.
While the chapel has been desacralized, its obscene use is still a violation of canon law.
Canon 1222 states that “If a church cannot in any way serve the divine worship and it is not possible to repair it, it can be reduced by the diocesan Bishop to a secular use that is not inappropriate.”
Canon 1222 also states, “If a church cannot be used in any way for divine worship and there is no possibility of repairing it, the diocesan bishop can relegate it to profane but not sordid use.” The recent “cabaret” show is one of the most clear-cut examples possible of such use.
Released footage of the pornographic performance, which is too graphic to publish here, sparked disgust and outrage after being shared to X.
Abbé Mathieu Raffray of the Institut du Bon Pasteur described the affair as “downright demonic,” noting in one statement that it used “explicitly satanic signs such as fire and snakes.” He suggested that the show was intentionally hosted in a formerly sacred space in order to “desecrate.”
“Why use a church for this? There is a desire for perversion, desecration in a place built for a certain purpose … ” he told Christian Tribune Media. “It horrifies me.”
Abbé Raffray also described the pro-LGBT nature of the show, which featured drag queens and homosexuals, as “an attack on Church morality,” BVoltaire reported.
He further stated that in addition to being “offensive to Catholics” because of its sacrilegious character, the show was a “provocation against humanity and our culture.”
The chapel was once part of the convent of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, who sold the entire complex in 2020 when they were “unable to maintain the building,” according to BVoltaire. They had resided there since 1895.
According to Abbé Raffray, the nuns turned down a proposal to buy the complex from Catholic faithful and instead chose to sell it to the Parisian social promoter In’li.
“It is the result of today’s consumerist mentality,” Abbé Raffray said.