Does anything go in the house of God?
On November 7th, the Holy Cathedral Church unusually became the stage for a theatrical performance titled “The Honors of a Gentleman.” The entire temple—from the presbytery to the side chapels, passing through the cloister and the chapter hall—was transformed into a scenic space where the funeral of a 16th-century knight was recreated.
The serious issue is not only the use of a space consecrated for divine worship for a profane spectacle, but the way it was done: invasion of the presbytery, use of authentic liturgical ornaments as costumes, and active participation of canons from the cathedral itself.
All of this was presented as a cultural activity, with a 10-euro entrance fee, the proceeds of which—according to indications—would go toward the repair of the cathedral’s organ. But the end does not justify the means. And even less so when the sacred sense of the space, the dignity of liturgical signs, and the respect due to the house of God are violated.
This episode cannot be understood in isolation. It is a new symptom of the ecclesial mismanagement under the episcopate of Mons. Antonio Gómez Cantero, in which pastoral criteria seem to have been replaced by a dangerous permissiveness where “anything goes” as long as temples are filled or cultural activities are justified.
The cathedral, which should be the mother and model of all the churches in the diocese, has sadly become a space of confusion, where the boundary between the sacred and the profane is blurred. What happened evokes those dark times when sacred spaces were ridiculed, turned into fairground halls or stages for banalities that have nothing to do with faith or liturgy.
It is especially painful to see that this type of initiative is not only allowed but sponsored by the dean of the cathedral himself and some of his canons. Faced with this, the question that remains in the hearts of many faithful is inevitable:
To what extent have we lost the sense of the sacred?
And how long will it continue to be tolerated that the house of God is used for purposes that contradict its very nature?
Perhaps the time has come to remember that the temple is not an auditorium or a theater hall. It is the dwelling place of the Most High, a place of worship, prayer, and encounter with Christ. And when this is forgotten, what is profaned is not only the building, but also the conscience of the Church.