Paderborn Archbishop sued after Dance with Chickens in Nappies at the High Altar

Chickens in Nappies: Lawyer files claims against Paderborn Archbishop

A performance in Paderborn Cathedral is causing quite a stir. During the opening ceremony for the exhibition "775 – Westphalia," artists dance with scythes and chickens wearing diapers in front of the altar. The performance was performed in front of the Federal President.

Paderborn An art performance during the opening ceremony of the exhibition "775 Years of Westphalia" in Paderborn Cathedral – in front of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier – is causing quite a stir. A lawyer from Iserlohn has filed a complaint against Archbishop Udo Markus Bentz. The question is whether the religious site has been desecrated.

The ceremony, organized by the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL), with 450 invited guests, featured prominent figures. In addition to Steinmeier, NRW Minister-President Hendrik Wüst and Georg Lunemann, Director of the LWL, were also present at the cathedral on May 15. During the event, two men and a woman from the Münster dance theater group "Bodytalk" performed excerpts from the project "Westphalia Side Story." Holding scythes, they danced at the altar to the 1980s song "Live is Life." At one point, they held chickens wearing diapers.

There was no sense of outrage in the cathedral at that moment. Nor was there widespread outrage, but rather a sense of surprise here and there. However, Archbishop Bentz and Cathedral Provost Joachim Göbel felt "irritation," the Archdiocese stated in response to an inquiry from "NW." The reason: "The artistic design of the performance by the Ensemble Bodytalk" was "not known in advance to either the Metropolitan Chapter, which provided the Cathedral as the venue, or the LWL, which was responsible for the event."

Source

All the stories on this sorry affair and more