A “blasphemous” performance featuring plucked chickens in diapers and half-naked dancers in a 13th-century cathedral to mark the 1250th anniversary of the German region of Westphalia has sparked outrage and forced the local Archdiocese to issue an apology.
Earlier this month, a series of “cultural” performances were held at the Paderborn Cathedral, a building dating back to the 1200s and associated with Catholic worship since the 8th century after the conquest of pagan Saxons by the Frankish king and the first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne the Great.
One of the performances to mark the 1250th anniversary of the Christianization of the Westphalia region by Charlemagne from the dance troupe ‘Bodytalk’ drew fierce backlash from the devout in Germany and abroad. Dubbed the ‘Westfalen Side Story’, it featured half-naked men swinging scythes, and parading around frozen, plucked chickens in diapers, while shouting out “meat is meat” to the 1984 tune of Live Is Life by the Austrian pop rock band Opus, Welt reports.
The performance was attended by the Archbishop of Paderborn, Dr. Udo Markus Bentz, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst.
After the footage went viral on social media, an online petition gathered signatures of over 22,000 people, demanding that Udo Marcus Bentz “perform an act of penance and atonement with the rededication of Paderborn Cathedral, desecrated by this performance.”
“Catholic churches are sacred spaces built for worship and dedicated to the veneration of God. The use of our churches should always point to God’s presence and lead to worship. Their misuse for disrespectful or profane performances is not only offensive to the faithful, but also undermines the witness and credibility of the church in society. Disturbing, blasphemous and profane depictions are occurring more and more frequently in churches, as most recently in Paderborn Cathedral on May 15, 2025,” the petitioners said.
“Whatever the performers intended to say, it was in any case a desecration of the sacred space and a blasphemy against the truths of the Christian faith. And this in the presence of the host, Archbishop Dr. Udo Markus Bentz, whose duty it should have been to defend the dignity of his cathedral and to immediately interrupt and end this performance! The fact that Bishop Benz watched this blasphemous spectacle in silence is at least as scandalous and disturbing as the performance itself!” they added.
The Archdiocese of Paderborn apologised this week and claimed that “the specific content of this program item was not known in advance to those responsible either by the organizers or by the venue.” However, critics noted that it was more of a non-apology, merely offering their “regret that the performance hurt religious feelings.”
“We are very sorry for the irritations that have arisen and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to tell us their point of view,” the statement added.
For their part, the performers offered up an even weaker response, justifying the act by saying that the “Westphalia is a region with many chickens.”
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