Singer's performance in Church cancelled after provocative video

Singer Claude's performance in Church cancelled after provocative video

The artist was due to perform on Wednesday evening in the Church of Saint-Eustache as part of the "Qui va piano va sano" festival, but the Parish Priest decided to cancel his performance because of a video clip of the artist that "undermines the symbols of the Church".

Last minute cancellation for the singer Claude. The French artist was due to perform this Wednesday evening at the Saint-Eustache church in Paris as part of the "Qui va piano va sano" festival, but he says on Instagram that his performance was cancelled in the morning at the request of the parish.

In his post, published in a story, the artist specifies that the church made its decision after viewing the video clip of his song Aide-moi un peu, which was deemed "provocative". In the video, Claude portrays himself as a priest in a parish and tells the story of his struggle between love and his religious vocation.

While he confesses to being "deeply annoyed" at having had to make this decision in consultation with the diocese, Yves Trocheris, the Parish Priest of the Church of Saint-Eustache, told BFMTV.com that the clip, which he only learned about on Tuesday, "undermines the symbols of the Church".

"I'm not in the habit of refusing artists, but I'm in charge of a religious community and every weekend 2,000 people gather around these symbols, which are extremely sensitive for them," he explained.

I cannot therefore support a video that undermines them and Claude's performance was, in my opinion, inseparable from this video," the priest said.

He added: "I am not talking about blasphemy, but, like the French flag, the Host and the Chalice are symbols that deserve respect. I don't know if an artist always measures very well, when he uses religious symbols, the impact that this can have on those who practice them.

However, Yves Trocheris specifies that he does not question the commitment to priestly celibacy which, according to him, is a "very current question that deserves to be asked".

"Claude has the right to sing what he wants"

In order to convince the Church of Saint-Eustache to maintain his performance, Claude explains that he tried to justify to the parish the content of his clip, originally made as a tribute to the book The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, which tells the story of a monk in love with a young woman.

"I tried to discuss it with the Church of Saint-Eustache, they didn't necessarily hear this interpretation or consider it enough to explain this clip," Claude says on Instagram.

"I can understand. It's their freedom to see it that way. I'm just deeply sorry for the people who had partly come to see me tonight," the artist continued.

Antoine Bisou, founder of the independent label Microqlima and organiser of the festival, told BFMTV.com that he "understands the position" of the church of Saint-Eustache but "regrets the personal interpretation of the clip" by the parish.

"We tried to argue that it wasn't sacred objects that were used but film props, but that wasn't the point", said Antoine Bisou.

Church vandalised twice

According to the parish priest of Saint-Eustache, Yves Trocheris, this cancellation was also decided to ensure the safety of the parish: "I would like to remind you that the Church has been vandalised twice recently. The main altar was broken and the high altar was urinated on, and the parishioners were really upset," he said.

Yves Trocheris also recalls Eddy de Pretto's performance at Saint-Eustache church in 2021, after which the artist received more than 3,000 insulting and threatening homophobic messages. 11 people were finally sentenced in December 2022 by the Paris criminal court to suspended sentences of three to six months in prison.

If at the time, the priest of the church of Saint-Eustache had given his support to the singer, he assures that in the case of Claude, the situation is completely different. "I defended Eddy de Pretto, because in his performance, there was no form of attack on the life of the church. For Claude, I take responsibility for the cancellation.

Source

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