A Dublin church has cancelled a performance by a gay men's choir claiming it is ‘not compatible’ with the mission of the Catholic Church.
The Dublin Gay Men's Chorus was due to perform at St Andrew’s Church on Westland Row later this month.
The concert, entitled 'Pride In The Name Of Love', was advertised as a celebration of love, solidarity, and community - with hundreds of tickets already sold before the cancellation.
In a statement on Thursday, however, the gay men's choir said the church had cancelled the event claiming it was "not compatible with our mission as a Roman Catholic Parish Church".
Dublin Gay Men’s Chorus Chairman Patrick McNamara told Newstalk they have sold more than 300 tickets.
"It's left us very baffled and very confused and obviously quite hurt; we're literally 10 days away from our concert," he said.
"We have over 300 tickets sold for the event.
"We do two main concerts and this is the main one in the summer period - we've been rehearsing since February".
'A Pride Festival event'
In an e-mail sent to the gay men's choir the church said: "The parish was disappointed that the nature of this event was not made clear at the time of booking.
"We have learned that in form and content it is being presented not as a simple choral recital but as a Pride Festival event".
Mr McNamara said the church has staged other, similar events in the past.
"While we made it clear this event is not associated with the official Dublin Pride Festival once St Andrew's made their concerns know the church was unwilling to change their position," he said.
"St Andrew's Church previously permitted another Dublin-based LGBT+ choir to perform in 2023, yet has seemingly made this decesion due to the event's title and their perception of its association with the festival".
Mr McNamara added that the decision is "deeply hurtful, particularly considering Pope Francis' recent use of a homophobic slur against the gay community".
The choir said it has secured a new venue for the same date and is working to finalise details.
