How Catholic Archbishop William Goh could have phrased his first statement on Madonna

Archbishop Goh: Respectfully, for your future consideration, please.

Martino Tan| Jeanette Tan| February 25, 07:08 PM

If you've been around online in Singapore over the past few days this week, you might have noticed the furore that has erupted over this Sunday's inaugural Madonna concert in Singapore.

We want to share our view of what happened that led to all of this happening. Our take is it was all triggered by media outlets who picked up on Catholic Archbishop William Goh's strongly-worded statement posted online on Saturday and reported on it on Monday.

It was meant for Catholics only, but in the age of social media, everyone got to read it.

It was only then that chaos ensued, the Church had to post a second statement in response to media follow-up queries, and perhaps not as many saw the second statement as did the first. The second statement added helpful context to the first, but perhaps it was one statement too late.

You also may have seen our story about Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP Alex Yam, who voiced his perspective in defence of the Archbishop — the logical thing to do for a Catholic with influence, but a risky one in the political space, and we explain why here.

All that said, yes, it isn't disputed that the Archbishop's statements were all directed at Catholics only, and not anyone else. However, we would stress that it is also unreasonable to expect the media to refrain from reporting it. Here's why:

1) It talked about the Madonna concert, which is a newsworthy topic, no doubt.

2) It is rare for a Catholic church leader to make public statements about a contemporary event, so that's newsworthy too. 

3) It made some pretty strongly-worded comments, calling Madonna's performance, and by extension her music, "‘pseudo arts’ that promote sensuality, rebellion, disrespect, pornography, contamination of the mind of the young, abusive freedom, individualism at the expense of the common good, vulgarity, lies and half-truths".

4) In what perhaps to outsiders may be a surprising move, the Archbishop called on Catholics to skip the show, declaring that it is their "moral obligation" to do so.

In light of that, we reckon it comes down to Archbishop Goh's wording of his statement, rather than the spirit of his intent.

Perhaps, if he had written it in a slightly kinder-sounding fashion, it might have been possible to assert the Church's stance without coming across as harsh and as judgemental to non-believers as it might have in its original form.

Another point of feedback for Archbishop Goh to consider is that he could have issued his statement earlier, so that obedient Catholics do not have to sell their expensive tickets ($108 - $1,288) on eBay this week.

Anyway, we'll take a stab at it, and our suggested version of his first message follows (our edits in blue, Archbishop's previous pronouncements in red):

Madonna’s concert, Rebel Heart, which is touring Singapore next Sunday on 28 February 2016, is causing a stir amongst the Catholic and other Christian communities here.

Many have expressed their concern and even outrage at the performer’s disrespectful use of Catholic and other Christian symbols during her performances. Social media is rife with comments about Madonna’s blasphemous music and even props.

As Shepherd of the Catholic flock in Singapore, I have made representations to various Ministries and Statutory Boards to communicate the Catholic Church’s grave concerns. Noting that whilst the Catholic community appreciates that “the task of the government in balancing freedom of the arts and public sensitivities is a challenging one”, I nevertheless highlighted that “in multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore, we cannot afford to be overly permissive in favour of artistic expression at the expense of respect for one’s religion, especially in these times of heightened religious sensitivities, particularly among active practitioners of religions”.

In response, the authorities have given their assurance in various communiques with me, both in writing and orally, that restrictions have been placed to ensure that religiously-offensive content that breaches local guidelines will not be allowed on stage in Singapore and they have undertaken to exercise vigilance in seeing that the guidelines are not breached. I do appreciate the sensitivity and understanding they have exercised here.

What I would however urge, you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, is to guard yourself against seizing on these developments to assert your moral superiority over those who may not agree or share the same belief or value systems.  Communications break down when we start to prove the other person’s faith either wrong or “not as perfect as ours”.  This is a sure way of shutting down doors leading to any meaningful interaction, reconciliation and eventual peace.

Those of you who have written to me to express your concern about the denigration of symbols we hold dear to us in Madonna's "Holy Water" segment of her concert — namely the nun's habit, which is a symbol of a woman's commitment to poverty, humility and the values to the high calling of the religious orders, as well as the cross, a great symbol of Christ's suffering and death out of love for all mankind, not just believers — certainly have valid reason to do so. 

Additionally, the Church's stance is that attending her concert, despite the exclusion of the denigrating segment, would be at odds with one's moral obligation to withdraw support, on principle, for a performance artist who chooses to offend Christians in such a blatant, unapologetic fashion.

However, it is equally important that we practice our faith with love, kindness and compassion. With those who have a shared faith, the dialogue will begin with the common faith.  With those who have no faith, then the Church uses the language of philosophy, the universal language of reason based on natural laws to dialogue with the rest of the world.  

Singapore is a plural society, where everyone respects everyone else's right and space to practice and live what they believe. Yet, what makes us truly human and truly a developed nation is when we become a people of compassion, united in love, have a deep respect for humanity; and the ability to sacrifice for others, for the future generations, putting God and nation above self. As Catholics, we should explain our position on Madonna's concert to all who approach us to seek greater understanding of it with love, gentleness and, crucially, without judgement and condescension.

This does not mean the Church has wavered on its position of disagreement with Madonna's denigration and flippant treatment of the cross and nun's habit, or its position on the poor, the helpless and the marginalized. In fact, the Church has always stood out as a voice for the poor, the helpless and the marginalized in society, for these are the people closest to the heart of God. 

Together, we hope that through our shared humanity, because we are basically one people with common interests and needs, whether of love, peace, unity and harmony, we can make this world a better place to live in where there is joy and happiness.

 

Top photo from Archdiocese of Singapore Facebook page.

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