On the holiest night of the year, German Catholics tuned in to the traditional Christmette broadcast live by the public broadcaster ARD from St. Maria church in Stuttgart. What they expected was the reverent adoration of the Baby Jesus in the manger. What they saw was an aberration: instead of the tender Infant Jesus, the twisted figure of an adult reclining on straw, wrapped in a damp and translucent membrane simulating an amniotic sac, writhing like a grotesque creature from a horror movie.
The «artistic installation»—the work of young artist Milena Lorek—intended, according to the celebrant Thomas Steiger, to show the «real vulnerability» of the Incarnation: Jesus being born without idealizations. «So viel Mensch war nie!» («Never was there so much man!»), proclaimed the mass’s motto. But for thousands of scandalized faithful, this was not deep theology: it was a blasphemous profanation that turned the joyful mystery of Bethlehem into a repulsive and demonic spectacle.
On social media, the outrage exploded. Users compared the figure to an «alien,» a «giant fetus,» or even a satanic scene. «Is this the Catholic Church or a pagan ritual?» many wondered. And not without reason: since when does faith need to resort to body horror to «update» itself? The millennial tradition presents us with the Word made Child, luminous and adorable, who attracts shepherds and kings. Not an amorphous and slimy being that provokes nausea.
This incident is not isolated. In Catholic Germany—that same one pushing the «Synodal Way» with blessings for homosexual couples and debates on celibacy—liturgical experiments abound that prioritize «contemporary art» and «inclusivity» over the reverence due to the sacred. St. Maria in Stuttgart had already hosted disruptive climate actions during mass. Now, with this modernist «krippe,» they cross a red line: disfiguring the Savior to please the progressive zeitgeist.
While the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart remains silent in the face of criticism, the faithful wonder: who authorized broadcasting this aberration nationwide, funded by citizens’ taxes? Is this evangelization or self-sabotage of the faith? In times of galloping secularization, the Church does not need to «provoke» with grotesque performances. It needs to return to the essentials: a Baby God who conquers hearts with his innocence and divinity, not with repugnance. Because if even the Nativity turns into a horror show, what remains of Christmas joy?Enough with liturgical experiments that drive the faithful away! May the Baby Jesus of Bethlehem, as we have known him for two thousand years, reign again in our mangers and in our masses.