NEWS: Pope Cancels Annual Pop Concert

CULTURE: Pope Says 'No' to Pop Music

After 13 years, the Vatican is pulling the plug on its annual Christmas concert. While no specific reason was given, papal insiders say Pope Benedict’s not a fan of "popular" music, preferring Mozart and Bach instead.

In Pope John Paul II’s time, the annual concert was the Vatican’s way of getting jiggy with it, drawing such wholesome singers as Whitney Houston and Dionne Warwick (as well as B.B. King and Bryan Adams). While Pope John Paul II usually made a point of meeting the musicians, sources say the current pontiff doesn’t roll that way, preferring instead to focus on the "spiritual essence" of Catholicism.

Also, the Vatican is reportedly looking to avoid any embarrassing outbursts made by musicians, as at the 2003 concert when Lauryn Hill accused the Church of moral corruption.

Last year, a Brazilian pop singer was dropped from the concert because church officials feared she would promote the use of condoms in stopping the spread of AIDS.

Guess it's just choirs and alter boys from now on.


Lauryn Hill at the 2003 concert

does this mean that they're dropping the "Catholicism Wow!" campaign, too?

so... ummm no catholic shindig? Thats a pain in the ass... used to that from them though...

condoms = evil!

Isn't Lauryn Hill completely batshit crazy now? I understand that her Unplugged album had a song that seemed to imply that AIDS is divine retribution for something or another, and I've read stories saying she has some sort of weird-ass religious "guru" and has embraced a particularly radical form of Christian fundamentalism. If you're going to blast Scientologists like Tom Cruise for airing their crazy-ass religious beliefs in public, you gotta go across the board.

That said, this pope (Benedict whatever; I just prefer to continue calling him "Ratzinger", because that name seems to fit him so well) seems intent on getting rid of all that pesky progress the Church has made in the past 30 or 40 years or so.

I'm just glad that the spiritual essence of Catholicism includes red Prada shoes.

Sack the nazi twat.

Nazi.

The catholic church can lick my fat hairy ballsack.

Haha, it sounds as though they elected a pope specifically to drive the Catholic church into a brick wall.

They'd prefer it if your sack didn't have hair. Hense the chior boys.

Excuse me, but would somebody remind me again why I should pay ANY attention to what that man in the dress and the big phallic hat is saying?

A cult of dirty old pedophiles is worried about "embarassing outbursts" by musicians... what a fuckin' riot. Who writes this stuff?!?!

Pffft!

Pffft again!

Not MY pope!

I'm so not catholic.

In fairness, I'd also rather hear Bach than any of the artists mentioned in this post.