Phillipines: Catholics call for ban on Lady Gaga's Concerts

May 21, 2012: Young Christians demonstrate in front of Pasay City Hall Catholic bishops today led calls for the authorities to cancel concerts by Lady Gaga in Manila next week, with religious groups claiming the pop singer’s lyrics are “blasphemous”.

A group of about 70 young Christians marched on Pasay City Hall on Friday urging the mayor to cancel permits for two concerts to be held on Monday and Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila. They carried placards that read “our master is not a monster” and “we’re pro-Jesus not pro-Judas,” the latter in opposition to the Lady Gaga song Judas which includes the line: “I’m just a holy fool, oh baby it’s so cruel, but I’m still in love with Judas, baby.”

Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon, a member of the Permanent Council of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, today joined calls to bar the US singer from performing. “[Lady Gaga’s] attitude seems to promote godlessness, [it’s] offensive to any religion,” he said. “Christians must exercise self-censorship to avoid shows that are harmful to their faith.”

Speaking on Church-run Radio Veritas today, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo urged the government to follow the example of other countries in the region that have banned the five-time Grammy Award winner from performing dates on her sell-out ‘Born this Way Ball Tour’.

“Indonesia and South Korea did not allow that concert because their governments saw that she is not a good influence, so I hope it will be the same here,” he said. Henrietta de Villa, head of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, joined the chorus of opposition, adding that Lady Gaga’s “insults to our faith” were not appropriate in a majority Catholic country.

A joint statement by religious groups including the Intercessors for the Philippines, the Philippines for Jesus Movement and the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches described the concert as “grossly blasphemous, immoral, lewd, obscene” with “demonic and occultist undertones that is an insult to our God and is a direct attack against our Christian faith.”

“It greatly endangers the hearts and minds of our young people as it overtly promotes satanic worship and sexual perversity,” it added. Despite fierce opposition from religious groups, Lady Gaga has proven a hit in the Philippines, prompting concert organizers to arrange a second performance on Tuesday due to high demand for tickets.