Catholic Archbishop gravely concerned about Madonna concert; reminds devotees not to attend

With less than a week to Madonna’s first-ever concert in Singapore throughout her whole 37-year career, Catholic and Christian communities here are making their voices of concern heard even louder.

According to the Archdiocesan Communications Office, Vatican-appointed Archbishop William Goh had already expressed his grave concerns to the various Ministries and Statutory Boards about the show on Feb 28.

He highlighted that “in multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore, we cannot afford to be overly permissive in favour of artistic expression at the expense of respect for one’s religion, especially in these times of heightened religious sensitivities, particularly among active practitioners of religions”.

As we know, authorities are still going ahead with the show, but at the cost of censoring controversial elements of the popstar’s Rebel Heart Tour. Already rated R18 due to sexually suggestive content, the Media Development Authority (MDA) has disallowed her ‘Holy Water’ segment from being carried out.

The controversial performance sees a multitude of half-naked pole dancers dressed up as nuns, and at one point Madonna gyrates on a platform that’s supposed to represent The Last Supper.

So yeah you can see why Christians are offended.

“There is no neutrality in faith; one is either for or against. Being present (at these events) in itself is a counter witness. Obedience to God and His commandments must come before the arts,” said the Archbishop, reminding all Christians about their moral obligation not to support those who insult religions.

“As the people of God, we should subscribe to authentic Arts that lead us to God through the appreciation of beauty, harmony, goodness, truth and love, respect, unity and the transcendent; and not support the ‘pseudo arts’ that promote sensuality, rebellion, disrespect, pornography, contamination of the mind of the young, abusive freedom, individualism at the expense of the common good, vulgarity, lies and half-truths.”

Amidst the support and critical opinions regarding the Archbishop’s involvement in the Madonna issue, it seems that LUSH 99.5FM DJ Rosalyn Lee is really ticked off about the man’s grave concerns, and promptly informed him to — how do we put this nicely — “shut the fuck up”.

“It’s a battle of your rights vs my rights – and I vote for the arts, one where freedom of expression and democracy are paramount, and where no one holds a monopoly on the truth.”



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