The pastor of the Protestant Saint-Guillaume church in Strasbourg filed a complaint for “death threats” after receiving two letters shortly after a show with pole dancing was held in his place of worship, he said Tuesday.
“A parish official and a person in civic service found two letters slipped under the door on Saturday,” said Daniel Boessenbacher. According to him, “there is no doubt that it refers to a show with the Stabat Mater and pole dance” recently organized in the parish.
Last week, an association, Crossed Passions, had rented the premises to organize two evenings there combining lyrical singing, dancing and pole dancing. “Virtuoso, athletic, graceful, impertinent, sexy, some would say, the former circus gymnast and European pole dance champion Vincent Grobelny kept the spectators seated in the nave and on the balconies spellbound, filled to the last jump seat “, described the local daily les Latest News from Alsace (DNA), claiming that “1,000 tickets were torn off”.
The program “is seductive, but it was soft”, tempered the pastor, while noting that “some did not appreciate”. An anonymous letter called for “beheading the parishioners”, complaining: “it’s not a church, it’s a cabaret”. A second courier proclaimed: “We must cut off his head because he gave the key to our holy church to this dancing serpent.” »
While the pastor filed a complaint Monday at the police station, he said that leaflets of the show annotated with the words “to death” or “in hell” were found under the door of the church. “We cannot leave room for people who stir up hatred and advocate violence,” insisted the 54-year-old pastor, explaining that he had filed a complaint to “mark the occasion”.
“We are used to reactions but not to death threats,” he testified, referring to criticism of the parish’s inclusive branch, which organized an event on Saturday entitled “Transidentity and intersex: what blessings? Death threats “do not dissuade me at all”, explained Daniel Boessenbacher, “I think the church must continue to open up to the world”.
Two other opera and pole dance shows are scheduled for May 31 and June 1 in Saint-Guillaume, as well as two unusual dinners in the nave of the church on June 8 and 9, organized by the same association.