Church criticises carnival floats and then blesses them anyway. A symbol of post-Conciliar Church life.

Report from February  -  Church and politicians criticise floats for Cologne Carnival

Cologne's city dean Robert Kleine considers the themed float on abuse in the church planned for Cologne's Rose Monday parade to be "unsuccessful". The theming is misleading, Kleine continued: spectators could take it to mean that it is not clergymen who are responsible for the crimes, but the Christian faith. Kleine had expressed his anger to the festival committee and recommended that the sentence be omitted.  However, the committee invoked freedom of expression and artistic freedom.

Despite his criticism of the float, Kleine took part in the traditional "topping-out ceremony for the Cologne Rose Monday parade" on Tuesday. There, the new carnival floats were presented in the float construction hall. The blessing given together with the city superintendent of the Cologne Protestant Church Association, Bernhard Seiger, was for the people taking part in the Rose Monday parade, Kleine said in defence of his actions.

"The blessing is for an accident free carnival procession and I don't bless the themes presented"

Background

The Diocese complains, but the city dean blesses the procession anyway: The floats for Rose Monday have been unveiled in Cologne. They're causing debate. That's exactly what they're meant to do, say the carnivalists.

US President Donald Trump balances the globe on his outstretched middle finger. A giant Elon Musk and a tiny AfD politician Alice Weidel sit together on a sandbox seesaw consisting of arms raised in a Hitler salute: These are just two of the themes on floats in this year's Cologne Rose Monday parade. They are currently waiting in a hall for their use.

A float depicting sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has already drawn fierce criticism from the CDU and the Archdiocese of Cologne. The float depicts a confessional from which a priest beckons an altar boy to approach him. The inscription reads: "Jesus loves you."

Several CDU politicians described the depiction as "repulsive," "hurtful," and "tasteless" in a letter to the Cologne Carnival Committee. They pointed out that the majority of Cologne residents still belong to a Christian church. "This image, which is beyond embarrassing and tasteless, should not be used to degrade the Cologne Rose Monday parade and Carnival as a whole," criticized the CDU politicians, including former Cologne Mayor Fritz Schramma.

Carnivalists find interference "strange"

The Archdiocese of Cologne also protested against the float. The website states: "No, it's neither funny nor does anything go at Carnival." The problematic aspect is that Jesus himself is being linked to the abuse.

The director of the Rose Monday parade, Marc Michelske, described it as "strange" that CDU politicians were trying to influence the freedom of Carnivalists. Carnival is precisely about putting your finger on the sore spot, using satirical language, and stimulating reflection. That's what's happening here. "It's not the depiction of the abuse that's tasteless and embarrassing, but rather the abuse itself and the way it's dealt with." Carnival President Christoph Kuckelkorn emphasized that he had received positive reactions to the float, especially from victims of abuse.

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