Photo of the Week

An immorally dressed acrobat performing in front of an altar

Some fruits of the circus pastoral

The acrobat you see above in a sequined flesh-colored leotard is performing her act atop a table. Her table is directly in front of another table with a white tablecloth, with a purple spotlight reflecting on its top. If you pay attention, you may distinguish a candle on the left side of the second table, and to its right another object that resembles a cross. That table is in fact an altar, and the contortionist is performing her act during a Mass.

In the first row below, you can see the altar more clearly, its right side covered by the “pulpit” draped in purple. A figure of Santa Claus in the background suggests a Christmas event; close to it, some ladies are seated around a stand with a music sheet, informing us that they belong to a choir; a man at left sitting behind a portable organ confirms this information.

Actually, this was a Mass said by Fr. Ernest Heller, the first officially named “Pastor for circuses, market traders and showmen” by the Swiss Episcopate in 2005. Fr. Heller lives at the Circus GO of Lucerne and invites as many circus artists as he can to perform at his Masses...

This particular Mass was said during the Christmas season in December 2012 to collect money for Children's Relief Bethlehem (Kinderspital Bethlehem), an a-religious institution to help children and their mothers.

In the second row below, you can see three dancers, wearing tiny bikini tops and transparent pants, performing a belly dance while Heller, in the background, says his Mass. In the third row, one of the dancers steps off the altar-stage for a moment and returns with an enormous python that she holds over her head. On the altar, the chalice is covered, indicating that Heller has just finished his Mass and is waiting somewhere nearby to carry the chalice out with him.

The fourth row pictures the moment of the Consecration. Fr. Heller, at right, concelebrates with Canon Paul Rutz, president of Children's Relief Bethlehem. Fifth row, Heller distributes the Communion to the audience seated around the stage while people sip espressos and other drinks. Sixth row, Heller performs a clownish act playing his clarinet around the altar to the great enjoyment of the choir ladies.

In the last row, you see clowns performing on stage before the Mass starts. The insert at left shows Heller, who calls himself “the clown of God,” posing in front of a clown wall mural; the insert at right shows him embracing young women in harlequin attire.

The least one can say is that this Mass was blasphemous because of the immoral, obscene performances that took place close to the altar and the general ambience of lack of seriousness. One could even say that it had a note of Satanism with that enormous serpent displayed so close to the altar. As it is known, the python is often used in voodoo worship. It is through pythons that the Devil communicates his desires to the voodoo--priestesses.

This Mass is just one example of the Masses Fr. Heller is used to saying.

What is the reaction of the Vatican to the "apostolate" of Fr. Ernest Heller? Has it condemned him? Has it admonished him?

No, the Vatican has not issued any censure of Fr. Heller. Instead, it bestowed on him the honorific Medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, which is an honor reserved for those who help the Church and the Pope in an outstanding way.

Why did such a thing happen? The answer is not difficult to grasp. Since Heller is very popular in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, he attracts many youths, whom he sends to Rome to be Swiss Guards at the Vatican.

The problem is not just that the Swiss Guard has been influenced by a clownish priest, but that God, Our Lord Jesus Christ present in the Holy Eucharist, is no longer taken into consideration in the Conciliar Church. Any kind of blasphemy or impropriety can take place in His presence with no concern shown, so long as it adds popularity, funds to its ecumenical initiatives and people to its ranks.

The immorally dressed contortionists and dancers in front of the altar

Fr. Ernest Heller playing the clarinet, and clowns performing near the altar

Photos from this video, seen first in Stat Veritas

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Posted October 20, 2013

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