MEXICO CITY (apro).- Because it constitutes “an offense and a mockery of the morals of the Mexican people,” around 60 Catholic organizations in the country, which have the support of the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM), demand that cancel the presentation in Mexico of the singer Madonna, scheduled for November 10, 12 and 13, at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
In turn, Oscar Sarquiz, a music critic who works for the distributor of Madonna’s recordings in Mexico (Warner Music), as well as a spokesperson for Operadora de Centros de Espectáculos SA de CV (OCESA), the company that promotes her concerts, expressed their optimism so that the artist can appear in our country without setbacks.
The National Pro-Life Committee, the National Union of Parents, the National Synarchist Union, the Knights of Columbus, the Confederation of Private Schools, the Testimony and Hope Movement and the National Alliance for Morals, are some of the organizations that They oppose the show of the American singer of Italian origin.
Representatives of these organizations have already requested an audience with Manuel Camacho Solís, head of the Department of the Federal District, and with Patrocinio González Garrido, Secretary of the Interior, to cancel the presentation.
On October 7, the National Pro-Life Committee sent a letter to President Carlos Salinas de Gortari in which they expressed that “the aforementioned pseudo-artist has dedicated herself to desecrating the religious, moral and family values of society… “If this show takes place in Mexico it will be a mockery of our Catholic values and will strongly harm the youth, perverting them.”
The letter asks Salinas de Gortari “for his urgent intervention so that this event is cancelled.”
And they explain to him that “Madonna is one of those promoters of hopelessness and satanism. Pornographic rock singer, her video clip Like a prayer is an example of this. Madonna previously wore a crucifix on her neck, transparent blouses and fingerless gloves ( mittens). She admitted that the crucifix was for her affinity with ‘an attractive man on a cross’. Songs like Burning Up describe her on her knees.
Copies of the letter were sent to Camacho Solís and González Garrido, as well as to Jerónimo Prigione, apostolic nuncio in Mexico and Ernesto Corripio Ahumada, primate archbishop of Mexico.
Jorge Serrano Limón, leader of Pro-Life, states angrily:
–When he was a presidential candidate, Salinas de Gortari promised to defend the family. The time has come for him to show us. The morale of the Mexican people is more important than the famous Free Trade Agreement. The figure and even the very name of the singer is a mockery for the Catholic people, since the only Madonna is the Virgin.
For Serrano Limón, the show is unconstitutional:
–It violates the sixth article of our Constitution, since it represents an attack on morality. It is not possible that, by hiring this symbol of sexual debauchery, the organizers of the show are selling our morality for a few dollars.
The sixth article of the Magna Carta stipulates:
“The manifestation of ideas will not be the subject of any judicial or administrative inquisition, except in the event that it attacks morality, the rights of third parties, causes a crime or disturbs public order.”
Serrano Limón adds that Catholic organizations have already alerted all the country’s bishops to join their request.
“We have the support of the Episcopate. And in case the authorities allow the singer’s presentation, we will organize demonstrations in front of the offices of Camacho Solís and González Garrido. It was they who gave permission for the event to take place and, therefore Therefore, they are complicit in this mockery of the people of Mexico.”
Monsignor Ramón Godínez Flores, general secretary of the CEM, confirms:
“In principle, we do support these organizations because it is for the good, public order and respect for the person. It is a shame that this singer dedicates herself to pornography. We even plan to write her a letter so that she reconsiders her loss and lives their dignity.”
He says that, from one moment to the next, Adolfo Suárez Rivera, president of the Episcopate, will give the final resolution that will be formally adopted by the Mexican bishops, who must abide by the encyclical Veritatis Esplendor, recently released by Pope John Paul II and in which They are asked to denounce acts offensive to Christian morality.
Rafael Funes, secretary of the council of the National Union of Parents (UNPF), says for his part that they will distribute flyers in around 2,000 primary, secondary and high schools in the Federal District, to warn young people about “the moral damage to that are exposed.”
–Although we do not work directly in universities, we will also distribute information in them, especially in private universities. Madonna’s is not a spectacle, but a true orgy in which she presents Christian symbols. We will not tolerate this.
The leader of the UNPF – created 76 years ago to challenge the secular education stipulated in the 1917 Constitution, and at the same time to monitor public morality – adds that they have videos of the presentations that the Girlie show tour is making around the world. Madonna, in which she simulates lesbian acts with her dancers.
The Civic Solidarity Center – to which the UNPF belongs and which brings together 47 social organizations, aimed at promoting “an authentic culture, based on the values of Mexican identity” – issued, on October 12, a statement in the which states:
“We are disconcerted by the attitude assumed by some public officials who open the doors to shows that promote family disintegration; this is the case of the ‘concert’ announced for an upcoming date by Mrs. Luisa Verónica Ciccone, better known as ‘Madonna’. Such a presentation “It has already been rejected in other countries.”
Attend or not, optional
Music chronicler Oscar Sarquiz, who provides his services for the Warner Music company, told Proceso:
“I speak on a personal level; but Warner has repeatedly spoken out against censoring artistic works, because censorship harms the artist and harms society as a whole. The artist is like a seer and his work anticipates what society as a whole he experiences.”
Madonna is an artist who is a product of her time and her character can be universalized, Sarquiz said, which is why there are very few countries where she is not successful.
“She has enormous talent for projecting a seductive image that is imposed, she has a great sense of humor, something that the inquisitors have never had. It is not up to Warner Music to judge the goodness of Madonna as an artist, but rather to the public that has exhausted the concerts and buy their records.”
Sarquiz recommended “addressing your paranoia” to those groups that see the visit as a “plot.” He added, recalling the case of intellectuals and scientists like Galileo, whose ideas changed the world:
“If these inquisitors had the power that they assume to represent society, and prevented the concerts, it would happen that in any case, Madonna ‘nevertheless moves.’ These groups confuse the cause with the effect, they believe that the representations she makes “They are going to affect social behavior, instead of seeing that what they do is a reflection of it.”
The chronicler said that the image of Madonna is inspired by myths that formed her.
“Like any teenager, he watched movies by Marilyn Monroe or Mae West. Those people who censor it don’t understand the cultural iconography that shaped such a playful dimension.”
Because record labels are communication companies and not censorship companies, “for no reason will we remove their albums or videos,” Sarquiz added:
“These persigned people should take into account that Madonna is the product of a strictly Catholic home and a repressive religious upbringing. Madonna herself is the living metaphor for their ridiculous censorious efforts.”
Sarquiz, who was host of the radio program The Answer is on the Air on Radio UNAM and has formed musical groups, sees a danger in the attacks on Madonna:
“Let groups that claim the right to determine the moral values of society ban concerts again, tomorrow they will start burning books.”
For a spokesperson for OCESA, organizer of Madonna’s three concerts, the Girlie show does not attack religion.
“That group of people assured at the conference on Tuesday the 12th, when they made their disagreement known, that they ignore the content of the Girlie show tour that Madonna brings to Mexico. It is logical: The show began in London on September 27, they have not had “It’s time to know what’s coming. They are prejudging, they base their arguments on assumptions. In Girlie show, Madonna doesn’t touch on religion at all.”
In any case, “if there is anyone who does not want to attend the show, they are free not to go.” The representative of OCESA estimated:
“It is optional. Mexico has an offer of shows, festivals and cultural events of wide diversity, regulated, for different tastes in a free market society. So far more than 130 thousand tickets have been sold to people who will see Madonna’s show. If there are groups that do not want to see it, no one twists their necks to make them do so, or to stop them from speaking out against it.
“It is very important,” he added, “that in less than a month three of the great representatives of rock and pop culture of our time will perform here: Michael Jackson at the Azteca stadium (October 28 and 29, and November 2 and 3); Madonna (November 10, 12 and 13) and Paul McCartney (November 25 and 27) at the Autodromo. She is very happy that there are so many people interested in seeing her, when there will be about 360 thousand with Jackson and 150 thousand with McCartney.”
In OCESA’s count, not affecting third parties has been the constant, since this company promoted 390 artists in three years, some 3 million people who attended its offer of shows “with a white balance, extraordinary public behavior and great support from the authorities,” he added:
“This shows that Mexico is more than prepared for first-rate cultural shows that can be seen on the most relevant stages in the world.”
The only country that has not allowed Madonna to visit is China. In San Juan de Puerto Rico, Cardinal Luis Alponte Martínez asked the government for the suspension, but Governor Pedro Roselló González informed him that he could not intervene with a private activity, “in which the government has no participation.”
“Madonna without controversy,” he defined, “would not be Madonna; but no one can threaten to use extreme measures of coercion on citizens who want to see this show of their own free will. In Germany, the promoter did not meet the technical needs and that is why Madonna canceled the show. producer.”
Madonna chose the Autódromo de los Hermanos Rodríguez to record the official video, due to the response that the rock shows presented by OCESA have received in Mexico.
“We saw the show in London and there is nothing where it mocks religious ideas. It brings another image, with impressive costume changes, ten dancers (five men and five women) in splendid choreography and a two-story stage. The promotion has been for three months, why are they expressing opposition until now?”
“We are a free country,” he concludes. “Let them express themselves; but people also have the right to see what they want as long as they do not violate others, and so far we have not had any problems at concerts where rock groups have been. ”
Phil Guliano, in charge of the production and assembly of the stage (60 meters long and 30 meters high), has started working at the Hermanos Rodríguez Autódromo. He will be assisted by a hundred technicians who will move the 150 tons of equipment carried by two planes and who will place 47 trailers, including some 2,000 lights to create the intimate atmosphere that Madonna has in mind.
