Catholics outraged
Musicians shoot “hot” video in the cathedral – and leave church representatives raging
Argentine singer Nathy Peluson performing in Madrid in June.
© Oscar Gonzalez / Picture Alliance
Two musicians shoot a music video in a Spanish cathedral – and get a shit storm. The video is a “shame”. It is even said to have started a war within the Catholic Churches.
Spanish church representatives are beside themselves. Latino pop, tight dance and sensual hip movements in a cathedral? Cheek! The music video of two Latino pop stars, filmed in a cathedral in Toledo, stirs emotions in Spain. It is too hot”. It is even said to have triggered a “war” within the Catholic Church, as the newspaper “El Mundo” writes. Readers of the renowned newspaper spoke of a “shame” and a “provocation” in the online comments at the weekend. Church officials said in unison in interviews: “This video offends God badly.”
In the video for the song “Ateo” (Atheist), the Spanish rapper C. Tangana (31) and the Argentine singer Nathy Peluso (26) dance close together with sensual hip movements. The Bachata-style song, a musical genre from the Dominican Republic, had more than 3.7 million views on YouTube on Sunday afternoon just 48 hours after it was published. On the video portal, the reactions were almost all (very) positive: “A true work of art”, many wrote.
“Abusive Use of a Sacred Place”
The Archbishop of Toledo, a city southwest of Madrid, Francisco Cerro Chaves, apologized: “We humbly and sincerely apologize to all lay people, consecrated persons and priests who have rightly felt offended by this misuse of a holy place . ” He “didn’t know anything about this project”. One regrets “these events deeply” and disapproves of the pictures taken.
But the dean of Toledo Cathedral justified the approval for the shoot: The video shows the story of a conversion through human love, wrote Juan Miguel Ferrer Grenesche. The text of the song is precise, emphasizes the dean, who also quotes C. Tangana in his communiqué: “I used to be an atheist, but now I believe because a miracle like you must have come from heaven.” With the permission to shoot, they wanted to “intensify the dialogue with contemporary culture”.
The 13th century church Catedral de Santa María de la Asunción de Toledo is the cathedral of the archbishopric. It is one of the main works of Spanish Gothic.