Madness in Paderborn Cathedral: Absurd Performance with Diaper-Wearing Chickens, Scythes, and Half-Naked Dancers

‘Archbishop’ sits in front row and watches calmly…

Madness in Paderborn Cathedral: Absurd Performance with Diaper-Wearing Chickens, Scythes, and Half-Naked Dancers

What just took place at the ‘Roman Catholic’ cathedral of Paderborn, Germany, is so absurd and deranged that it is difficult to believe it took place even after seeing it with one’s own eyes.

For a cultural exhibit associated with the anniversary celebrations for 1250 years of Westphalia, an inaugural ceremony was held on May 15, 2025, in what once was (and ‘officially’ still is) the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Paderborn. The sacred edifice is a historic church building whose origins reach back to at least the 13th century; it is dedicated to Saints Mary, Kilian, and Liborius.

The ceremony included a few less-than-edifying performances, but none could top the absurd spectacle that took place about one hour in when a man and a woman got onto the stage and started dancing while swinging scythes. A few minutes later, a third performer joined them and brought three plucked and gutted chickens onto the stage, two of which were wearing diapers. The man and woman began ‘walking’ with the chickens as one would help a baby to walk, while the third performer put a diaper on his chicken. Then they all played and danced with the chickens and sang Fleisch ist Fleisch (“meat is meat”) to the tune of the 1985 hit song Live is Life by the Austrian band Opus.

The entire farce took about five minutes, which will seem like an eternity to anyone watching it who still has his wits about him. Although the official video of the complete event has been deleted from YouTube, we were able to obtain a copy and are sharing it online for the sake of exposing this evil to the public (direct YouTube link here):

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The following images are still shots taken from the video, which tell enough of the story:

Some people will ask: Where is the bishop?

Since 2023, the leader of the archdiocese has been ‘Archbishop’ Udo Markus Bentz (b. 1967). Notably, Bentz was very much present at this performance; in fact, he sat in the front row as a guest of honor, together with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s head of state, and Hendrik Wüst, the minister-president (governor) of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (among others):

Not only did ‘Abp.’ Bentz sit idly by while this disturbing and disturbed spectacle took place in front of the Novus Ordo altar-table, he did not express the slightest bit of disapproval or displeasure when, approximately 40 minutes later, it was his turn to give a speech.

‘Abp.’ Bentz had a lot to say at the event, but not a word of criticism for the absurd spectacle 40 minutes earlier

The scythe-chicken insanity was but a short excerpt from a more elaborate and longer performance Westfalen Side Story (a play on words on the musical West Side Story). The three individuals that committed this abomination are part of a dance-theater ensemble called Bodytalk. A quick look at their web site and YouTube channel — we’ll spare you the links — suggests that what they put on in the cathedral on May 15 is one of their more innocent, decent, and sane shows by comparison. We kid you not!

A possible and very disturbing interpretation of the intented ‘meaning’ behind this trash could be that it is a glorification of abortion/infanticide, with the scythe-swinging perhaps signifying the act of killing and the “walking” of the headless little creatures in diapers perhaps symbolizing the babies. But this is just a guess on our part. Whatever the intended ‘meaning’ may be, it is clear that only deranged minds could come up with something so demented and depraved.

The scurrilous performance may not have caused outrage with the ‘Catholic archbishop’ of Paderborn, but it did cause quite a ruckus with the public. An online petition was launched, but it still took twelve days for the archdiocese to finally issue an apology of sorts — not, of course, for having committed a great sin against God (first of all), but rather for having offended some people’s religious feelings:

Regarding the controversial performance, the archdiocese stated: “The specific content and design of this program segment was not known in advance to those responsible either on the organizers’ side or at the venue.” Looking ahead, the archdiocese announced: “We take the reactions to the performance very seriously and have already begun reviewing our internal procedures.”

At the same time, the statement expressed “explicit regret that the performance hurt religious feelings.”

The archdiocese further emphasized that such an effect was “never intended at any point” and also “does not reflect our expectations for this place with its special religious, historical, and cultural significance.”

(Alexander Folz, “German Archdiocese Distances Itself From Controversial Performance in Cathedral”, National Catholic Register, May 29, 2025)

How believable is it that the archdiocese had no prior knowledge of the content of the performance? Not very. But even if that were so, it wouldn’t really matter because they had a duty to know. It was their job to know what would happen — and aside from that, obviously any kind of dance performance has no place in a Roman Catholic cathedral in the first place. The fact that it took public outrage and twelve days for them to ‘distance’ themselves from this obvious madness, suggests that the motive behind the statement was simply a matter of public relations.

In any case, the problem is not that somebody’s feelings were hurt but that a sacred edifice — a building consecrated to the worship of the only true God, the Most Holy Trinity — was defiled in this manner.

But for that, they will never express genuine remorse.

Image source: YouTube
Licenses: fair use