Hell in Church: ‘Holy Hydra’ Events Profane the Sacred in Austria

“…see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary” (Ps 73:3)

Hell in Church:
‘Holy Hydra’ Events Profane the Sacred in Austria

We have had countless posts exposing all kinds of blasphemy, desecration, profanation, and sacrilege in Catholic churches over the last few decades, but the event known as Holy Hydra is deserving of yet another such post.

It was in 2018 that the ‘Hydra Culture Club’ of Linz, Austria, began performing in churches once a year. The latest such event took place on June 14, 2024, in the ‘Catholic’ Church of the Risen Christ in the small town of Gmunden, part of the diocese of Linz. (The false shepherd playing Catholic bishop there is Manfred Scheuer (b. 1955), appointed to the post by ‘Pope’ Francis in 2015.)

The ‘Hydra’ defines itself as the “many-headed creature from the Linz underworld that fights for the subculture day and night”, according to the Holy Hydra web site. The ‘Hydra Team’ consists of two young men and three young women.

What in the world is Holy Hydra? We’ll let the ‘Team’ speak for itself:

HOLY HYDRA is an interdisciplinary event that focuses on an expanded use of sacred spaces with the aim of broadening the discourse between club culture, religion and society. The event offers the exclusive opportunity to experience a sacred space in a new perspective and to discover art and culture in a way that has rarely been made accessible before. In addition to a symposium that addresses the theme of sacred and urban space, contemporary dance performances, electronic music and new media art are part of the two-day program. Combining theory and practice, the following questions are discussed: What are the similarities between club culture and religion? How can sacred spaces, such as churches, be used in alternative ways? To what extent can church, art and culture benefit from each other? The aim is to create awareness for sacred buildings and their further use and preservation. Holy Hydra wants to open up these architecturally unique and culturally and historically valuable spaces in order to make them, apart from their religious significance, discoverable for people regardless of their faith as places of encounter and exchange. …

(Source)

The following brief video clips give enough of an impression of what the clearly unholy ‘Hydra’ is all about (CAUTION!):

For those who can’t or don’t want to play videos, the PDF pamphlet posted here includes plenty of photos of what goes on at this unholy spectacle.

For more information and background, a special 53-minute video documentary on Holy Hydra is featured on their web site (with English subtitles).

The profane Holy Hydra abomination is an overnight event. On Facebook, this year’s Holy Hydra was scheduled to last 9 hours and 30 minutes, beginning at 6:00 pm.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Daniel warned: “…and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end” (Dan 9:27). Referring to this passage, our Blessed Lord instructed us: “When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand. Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains” (Mt 24:15-16). This is why true Catholics have abandoned the formerly Catholic churches now occupied by the Novus Ordo Sect and “fled to the mountains” liturgically and sacramentally.

Although this year, Holy Hydra chose a Novus Ordo ‘spaceship’ church in Gmunden for their profane acts (see photo here), that is very much beside the point, since every year a different ‘Catholic’ church is chosen, and the mainstream understands Novus Ordo churches to be Catholic churches. Furthermore, Holy Hydra has made clear that it is precisely their intention to perform in sacred spaces, such that are still actively being used for divine worship, not simply church buildings that have been abandoned: The event “includes a variety of performances that culminate in a rave every evening and has been taking place in a consecrated church every year since 2018”, their web site states.

To top it all off with the height of irony: On their Facebook page, the ‘Hydra Culture Club’ posted some memes promoting the June 14 event and establishing some basic behavioral rules (such as no antisemitism, racism, etc.). One of the memes includes the following caveat: “Church is a holy place for a lot of people. Respect this space!”

You couldn’t make it up if you got paid to.

Image source: YouTube (screenshot)
License: fair use