CV NEWS FEED // A German Catholic archdiocese recently expressed outrage at a satirical parade float that highlights clergy sex abuse and directly links Jesus with the scandal.
The Independent reported that the float is part of Cologne’s annual Shrove Monday parade, which is known for its sarcastic depictions of current events or controversies. The float the Archdiocese of Cologne opposed features an altar server standing outside a confessional, which has an outstretched arm with a beckoning hand coming out of the door and luring the boy inside. Words on the side of the confessional read, “Jesus loves you.”
The Archdiocese of Cologne issued a letter Feb. 22, calling the float “tasteless” and expressing its anger at the satirical portrayal of the Church.
“The inscription on the confessional — ‘Jesus loves you’ — directly associates Jesus, the Son of God, with the abuse,” the Archdiocese wrote, according to the Independent. The letter appears on the Archdiocese’s website in German, but the Independent provided a translation.
The Archdiocese added, “It is suggested that Jesus himself is sitting in the confessional and wants to pull the altar boy into it with a wave of his hand; at the very least, Jesus is being instrumentalised here.”
According to the Independent, a church-commissioned 2018 report stated that clergy in Germany abused at least 3,677 individuals between 1946 and 2014, with more than half of the victims being 13 years old or younger and roughly 3 in 10 serving as altar servers.
The Archdiocese’s letter said that linking Jesus with the clergy sex abuse, thus assigning Him partial responsibility, means that “a line has been crossed that cannot be justified for any reason in the world.”
However, Christoph Kuckelhorn, the head of the Cologne Carnival Committee, saw no issues with the float.
He reportedly stated, “It’s not the depiction of abuse that is tasteless and embarrassing, but rather the abuse itself and how it is dealt with.”
The Independent reported that several members of the center-right Christian Democratic party opposed the float, stating that it “cannot be surpassed in terms of embarrassment and tastelessness” and “should not belittle the Cologne Shrove Monday procession and carnival as a whole.”
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