A silent disco held in Canterbury Cathedral in the UK over the weekend has been deemed “profane” by the organiser of a petition against its use as an event space.
Some 3,000 people attended the event last Thursday night at the UNESCO World Heritage Site which had been fitted with bars, strobe lighting, and 90s music played all night long.
Canterbury Cathedral was constructed in 1834 and is considered the official cathedral of the leader of the Church of England – the archbishop of Canterbury.
The Church plans on holding more events in the Cathedral over the coming months, which they say is an attempt to evangelize people.
On Moncrieff today, Cajetan Skowronski, who has garnered some 2,000 signatures against the building's use as an event place, said it was an issue of money.
“I had a meeting with the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral about this, he said.
“He said, ‘Look I’m not naïve, I know this isn’t going to evangelize people’.
“He told me that it was about money, that this would raise money.”
Higher attendance
Mr Skowronski said the discos would not result in higher church attendance, as had been suggested by the Church of England.
“He [the Dean] felt forced to justify it that it was good on a community outreach level – I don’t think anybody is buying that.
“It’s not going to bring people into the church.
“The people who went to the disco aren’t going to turn up on Sunday for the service.”
Mismanagement
Mr Skowronski said the church has been mismanaged.
“The reason they need money is because they’ve mismanaged the church for so long that nobody comes as a parishioner, nobody comes to services,” he said.
“It’s just too embarrassing to admit that they haven’t been running the church well for a long time and that’s why they’ve gotten to this desperate state.
They have to dress it up as this clever, innovative idea.”
Sacred
The Cathedral is a sacred building and should not be used for events, according to Mr Skowronski.
“Our focus is on preserving the sacred, he said.
“There are places in every country and in every culture that we would not want something like a disco with alcohol and profane lyrics to be played.
“I have nothing against discos or clubbing; before I had kids I went quite regularly – but the point is I’d go to a nightclub for a clubbing night, not a church.”
Released footage
Mr Skowronski said footage released of the event by organisers was shocking to some people.
“They see it and think ‘It’s a nightclub, they’ve turned it into a nightclub,’” he said.
“There’s strobe lighting, people dancing and singing lyrics of various pop songs.
“Lots of people around the country now are saying they’re going to pray outside their cathedral when it happens again.”
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Main image: Canterbury Cathedral. Image: Sarah Ansell / Alamy Stock Photo
