Protest against dismissal
Visitors disrupt Christmas mass by Freiburg’s Archbishop Burger
Updated on December 25, 2024Reading time: 2 min.
This doesn’t happen every day: Visitors disrupt Christmas mass and thereby protest against termination. The archbishop is powerless.
Uproar at the Christmas mass in Freiburg Cathedral: After a performance by the Cathedral Boys’ Choir towards the end of the liturgy, which was led by Archbishop Stephan Burger, there was applause that lasted for several minutes. Some shouts of protest could be heard. Burger had to interrupt the meal. The Catholic television k-tv switched off its broadcast and displayed the following lines: “We ask for your understanding that the broadcast cannot continue due to deliberate disruption of the service.” The “Badische Zeitung” first reported. After tempers had calmed down in Freiburg Cathedral, Burger was able to initiate the blessing.
According to information from the German Press Agency, the background is the expulsion of cathedral music director Boris Böhmann, who conducted the cathedral choir boys on Christmas Eve. He was terminated in the summer at the end of February 2025.
During the disruption, flyers were reportedly distributed in which Böhmann’s supporters called for the termination to be revoked and asked for signatures on a petition. This is therefore directed against the cathedral chapter of the archdiocese.
The petition call states: “There is great uncertainty and consternation among the approximately 300 affected singers of the cathedral singing school. The children and young people of the cathedral singing school in particular are losing their orientation and supportive community in an important development phase under his leadership, which is led with great pedagogical skill. (…) Attempts by the choir representatives to talk to the cathedral chapter about the increasingly tense situation have also been unsuccessful in the past.
Archdiocese spokesman Marc Mudrak did not want to say why the church musician should be fired for data protection reasons. “From the diocese’s perspective, this was wanton disruption,” Mudrak said. The termination remains in effect. The decision to terminate has a long history and a long lead-up, said Mudrak. “There were numerous conflicts in the cathedral singing school. There were repeated attempts at mediation, but they all failed. The cathedral factory fund therefore ultimately had to make the difficult decision of terminating the cathedral music director. No one made the decision easy, but it was the last resort .”
It is understandable that after the termination of a long-time choir director there would be unrest among the members of the cathedral music. “Due to data and privacy protection, the Domfabrikfonds is not allowed to publicly explain the individual reasons for the termination. Unfortunately, this has led to a skew in the debate, which everyone involved in the Domfabrikfonds regrets. However, the reasons for the termination were the subject of several labor court proceedings. “
The repeated disruption of church services on Christmas Eve and Christmas is not an appropriate form of protest, said Mudrak. “Many visitors who had nothing to do with the conflict were deliberately drawn into the conflict. The protest was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Conflicts and differences of opinion could not be resolved in this way. “The situation makes it even more clear that a new beginning in the management of cathedral music is urgently needed.”