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Church hosts Carnival madness in Mombach, Germany

Fr.Gottfried Keindl, above left, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Mombach, Mainz, Germany, sent a general invitation to the Mardi Gras and Music groups of the small town to come to his parish church on January 11, 2015, with their "fools delegations" in order to "praise madness" (Narrenlob).

Mainz is famous for its Carnival, with street festivities that start in November of one year to Ash Wednesday of the next. So, Fr. Keindl specified in his invitation that his parish commemoration should be included in this long cycle.

Although the Mainz Mardi Gras is much more conservative than its Latin American counter-parts, to host these festivities in a Catholic church is actually a desecration of the religious edifice, whose aim is to host the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the faithful's worship of God.

Notwithstanding, Fr. Keindl hosted these festivities in his church, something that has become common in Germany. He has not been reprimanded for his action, but, to the contrary, it is more probable that he will be promoted by his superiors for his consonance with Vatican II and its adaptation to the modern world.

With a local band playing, several costumed groups paraded into the church, below first row, marching toward the presbytery, where they lined up behind the altar in a semi-cricle so they could be viewed by the congregation, second row.

The priest welcomed and blessed the groups, third row, and presided over the "praise of madness." The commemoration included an act of a whistling troubadour dressed as hussar, fourth row, a brief reading by a lecturer dressed in gala apparel with a jester hat, fifth row, and two presentations of a choir whose members wore varying jester costumes, three last rows.

In accordance with the ambience of madness, the Alpine maestra arranged a way to show the congregation her bare legs beneath her floating mini skirt, two last rows.

A video of this episode may be viewed here.

Photos from the video, first seen in Catholic Conclave

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Posted March 1, 2015

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