Drag queen act with Nazarene costume ‘completely disrespectful’ – CBCP
CBCP | PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
MANILA, Philippines — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has joined netizens in strongly objecting to a drag queen’s use of a widely revered Christian image and a religious hymn for a bar party performance.
The performer known as Pura Luka Vega tweeted on Tuesday a video of herself in a Black Nazarene costume and dancing and singing along to an upbeat rendition of “The Lord’s Prayer” before an entertained crowd.
The now-viral clip was captioned “Thank you for coming to church!” and had an emoji of hands folded in prayer.
Another video showed Pura Luka Vega near the end of the performance and taking a handkerchief to wipe her face, apparently mimicking Black Nazarene devotees.
Sought for comment on Wednesday, Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs, described the actions of the people in the video as “completely disrespectful.”
“People should be extremely prudent in their actions, especially with regards to using elements of religion and faith for secular purposes. If not used properly, such actions border on mockery and profanity,” the CBCP official said.
“Dancing to the tune of a sacred and biblical prayer, with matching sacred costume to boot, is completely disrespectful not only of people and institutions practicing such faith but of God Himself,” Secillano said.
“Faith and sacred objects are not for entertainment purposes. They are useful for channeling our deepest desire to have recourse to the Divine.”
Sen. JV Ejercito, one of the first to post a comment on the video, wrote: “This is blasphemy. This disrespects my faith. This went overboard.”
In a statement released through Philippine Drag Updates, which promotes a drag queen reality show, Pura Luka Vega said: “I won’t delete it or will apologize for doing it.”
“To begin with, our mere existence as queer individuals already offends people. Drag is also queer and when I think about it, to me it’s really just a yassified worship/lipsync of ‘The Lord’s Prayer’,” she said.
Stressing there was no need to “explain my art,” she added: “People are free to make interpretations of it. The way I see it, our reactions and perceptions reveal our values which we need to reflect on.”
