Fundamentalist Catholics blocked Anna von Hausswolff's concert in Nantes

Last night (7 December) Swedish artist Anna von Hausswolff was due to play a show in a church in Nantes, but a group of fundamentalist Catholics demonstrating outside the venue, calling the music "satanist", prevented the musician from playing.

As Le Monde reports, the first deputy mayor of Nantes tweeted, "A handful of intolerant radicals causes the cancellation of a concert in ND du Bon-Port scheduled in agreement with the bishopric. Nothing authorized the expression of such censorship. This is not our conception of a social project based on dialogue and cultural openness."

Une poignée de radicaux intolérants provoque l’annulation d’un concert à N-D du Bon-Port programmé en accord avec l’évêché. Rien n’autorisait l’expression d’une telle censure. Ce n’est pas notre conception d’un projet de société fondé sur le dialogue et l’ouverture culturelle.

— Bassem ASSEH (@3asseh) December 7, 2021

The sold-out show was scheduled to begin at 9pm local time, and Ouest-France shared a video of the demonstrators outside the venue, shouting, "Saint Mary mother of God, pray for us poor sinners."

Des manifestants catholiques ont empêché le concert d’Anna von Hausswolff, spécialiste de l'orgue, à l'église Notre-Dame de Bon Port, organisé par le Lieu unique à #nantes ce mardi soir pic.twitter.com/ySl2kN8R7l

— Ouest-France 44 (@OuestFrance44) December 7, 2021

Eli Commins, the director of the Lieu unique - who organised the concert - told Ouest-France, "It has already performed in about forty churches or cathedrals and there has never been a problem. There is no religious inspiration, no violence! It just plays the organ, and the organs are found in churches. It's post-metal influenced music. There weren't even any lyrics in the planned performance."