On the holiest night of the year, German Catholics tuned in to the traditional Christmette broadcast live by the public broadcaster ARD from St. Maria church in Stuttgart. What they expected was the reverent adoration of the Baby Jesus in the manger. What they saw was an aberration: instead of the tender Infant Jesus, the twisted figure of an adult reclining on straw, wrapped in a damp and translucent membrane simulating an amniotic sac, writhing like a grotesque creature from a horror movie.
The «artistic installation»—the work of young artist Milena Lorek—intended, according to the celebrant Thomas Steiger, to show the «real vulnerability» of the Incarnation: Jesus being born without idealizations. «So viel Mensch war nie!» («Never was there so much man!»), proclaimed the mass’s motto. But for thousands of scandalized faithful, this was not deep theology: it was a blasphemous profanation that turned the joyful mystery of Bethlehem into a repulsive and demonic spectacle.
On social media, the outrage exploded. Users compared the figure to an «alien,» a «giant fetus,» or even a satanic scene. «Is this the Catholic Church or a pagan ritual?» many wondered. And not without reason: since when does faith need to resort to body horror to «update» itself? The millennial tradition presents us with the Word made Child, luminous and adorable, who attracts shepherds and kings. Not an amorphous and slimy being that provokes nausea.
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