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.