Dominican fathers in Belgium claim to have received in recent days a flood of hate messages linked to the programming in a church in Brussels from a Swedish artist in the crosshairs of fundamentalist Catholics in France who deem her "satanist".
The Belgian religious community has, however, decided to maintain the two performances scheduled for Monday evening by singer and organist Anna von Hausswolff, which will be sold out and under police surveillance, said Father Ignace Berten, one of the Dominicans at the AFP.
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Dozens of emails
"
We do not accept this kind of diktat
", said about "
dozens of emails
" received by his community to denounce the holding of this concert in a religious building.
“
Even if the artist is debatable, our great organ has been restored thanks to public funding and we therefore consider that it must also be put at the service of culture,
” he added.
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At the microphone of the RTBF, a spokesperson for the community spoke of "
hate messages (received) in waves
", "
essentially anonymous threats
".
The Dominicans began to be the target when they announced on social networks that they had accepted to host this concert organized by the Botanique, a renowned cultural center in the Belgian capital.
Their church has a Van Bever organ with a romantic aesthetic "
which fits very well
" to the Swedish repertoire, according to the direction of the Botanique.
In Belgium, Catholicism is much less divided than in France.
Everything starts from France
Ignace Berten, Dominican father who organized the concert
The 35-year-old artist, native of Gothenburg, is a singer, pianist, organist and songwriter of post-metal and experimental rock.
In one of her songs
Pills
, she evokes the addiction to drugs and metaphorically says to have "
made love with the devil
", which earned her to have been recently the target of fundamentalists during her tour in France. France.
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Last week, elected officials from Nantes were forced to cancel one of his concerts. A video broadcast by local media showed a group of opponents blocking the entrance to the church where it was planned, chanting “
Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us poor sinner
”. The concert planned two days later at the Saint-Eustache church in Paris had also been canceled, but the Swede had finally performed in an undisclosed location the same evening.
In Brussels, the Botanique insisted that the controversial song was not on the program of the two concerts on Monday evening, only instrumental.
Due to the threatening messages, the organizer obtained a police presence to ensure the safety of the spectators and the artist.
"
We are aware of this concert, we are making the necessary arrangements
," said a spokesperson for the Brussels police joined by AFP, refusing to detail the device.
“
In Belgium, Catholicism is much less divided than in France.
Everything starts from France
”, also affirmed Ignace Berten, questioned on the origin of the threats.
