Easter celebration A.D. 2022 soft porn star sings for Pope Francis

[andy]

Enjoy:

Some details: https://gloria.tv/post/hYZdozekv1US4k6o8NQqotEML

[red solo cup]

Who are we to judge? /s

[Prayerful]

Seems a bit too homo, but again, who am I to judge?

[Goldfinch]

Another sign of the moral degeneracy in Rome.

We are living in very dark times.

[Mushroom]

I can't believe it's real.

[Jayne]

Blanco is singing "Blu Celeste"  a song that mourns the death of friend who died in her teens.  There is nothing erotic about it.

He is a famous, popular singer who won the Sanremo Music Festival and represents Italy at this years EuroVision Song Contest.

He is not a "soft porn star" by any reasonable definition.  That is just used to be inflammatory.  His performances are no more sexualized than is typical for modern performers (which is admittedly not saying anything in their favour.)

One could have a thoughtful discussion about whether it is appropriate for Catholics to use popular culture to reach out to youth.  Inviting such a discussion does not appear to have been the goal of the article in the OP.

Also, this thread does not belong in this subforum.

[andy]

Jayne,

First of all, I do not attempt to judge this poor guy here at all. But do yourself a favor and google images for "Mahmood Blanco" before posting things like that.

My post is directed at Catholic Church.

[Jayne]

Jayne,

First of all, I do not attempt to judge this poor guy here at all. But do yourself a favor and google images for "Mahmood Blanco" before posting things like that.

My post is directed at Catholic Church.

Your post was inflammatory click-bait, just one more instance of Internet outrage culture.  You do not need to direct this at the Catholic Church or anyone else.

I'm not saying that it was appropriate for Blanco to sing (see this thread for people making reasonable arguments about what is wrong with using secular music this way: https://www.suscipedomine.com/forum/index.php?topic=28192.0) but we need rational discussion of the problem.  We don't need emotionally-loaded exaggerations (that aren't even in the right subforum).

edit to add:  I did google for images.  I admit that the Vanity Fair cover was highly inappropriate.  However, having famous people pose nude for their cover  is a thing that Vanity Fair has been doing for decades.  I'm not saying it is a good thing, but I am not going to say that everyone who has posed for them that way is a "soft porn star".   

[andy]

You seem to be more outraged at me that Pope and his Holiness friend's Blanco. Huh.

[josh987654321]

Blanco is singing "Blu Celeste"  a song that mourns the death of friend who died in her teens.  There is nothing erotic about it.

I don't speak the language or know the words or the song, so I can't speak to that, but it definitely looks bad IMO. Not the place for it and I definitely wouldn't have anything to do with it. I mean, dude, if your gonna wear a T-shirt you can at least try to figure out how the buttons work on it and if it's going be see-through what's the point of wearing it at all lol.

It's definitely not appropriate.

He is not a "soft porn star" by any reasonable definition.

Actually, in the music industry today, pop music is often very demonic in nature and highly sexualized. I would very much recommend the faithful avoid a lot of today's pop music.

His performances are no more sexualized than is typical for modern performers (which is admittedly not saying anything in their favour.)

Exactly, and what's on today, I switched to the Pop Music channel for less then 5 seconds yesterday on my TV and had to change it straight away it's become that bad. Even some pop songs you might not notice much but when you see the film clip it's practically demonic and wouldn't surprise me in the least if they were into the occult and had that stuff in it.

God Bless

[Jayne]

It's definitely not appropriate.

I am sure that virtually everyone on this forum, including myself, agrees with that.  But "Vatican has Inappropriate Secular Musician at Youth Event"  is not an exciting enough headline.  Who would read that?

You seem to be more outraged at me that Pope and his Holiness friend's Blanco. Huh.

I would not say that I am outraged but I am seriously annoyed by irresponsible media outlets who sensationalize stories  (whether they are on the Left or the Right).  They distort the truth to make things sound worse than they are because it attracts more audience.  This is how they do business and make their money.  And one of the outlets running with the "soft porn star" narrative is Church Militant which frequently targets SSPX with their hit pieces, so I am especially annoyed with CM.

I doubt the Pope had anything to do with the decision to book Blanco for this event.   I'm pretty sure his job at the Vatican is not event planning. And poor Blanco is a teenager in the grips of the music industry.  I feel sorry for him since most people who get into show business young end up leading very unhappy lives in which suicide is not uncommon.  But I have no reason to think he is worse than any other teen who has grown up indoctrinated by messed up Western culture.  Inappropriate music and over-sexualized clothing are the least of their problems.

I am not outraged with them over this and only mildly annoyed with you for spreading poor journalism.  My main complaint is with the poor journalism itself.

And with threads put in the wrong subforums.  (I have been thinking that I need to end all my posts in this thread with "Filum movenda est".) 

[Mushroom]

Blanco is singing "Blu Celeste"  a song that mourns the death of friend who died in her teens.  There is nothing erotic about it.

He is a famous, popular singer who won the Sanremo Music Festival and represents Italy at this years EuroVision Song Contest.

He is not a "soft porn star" by any reasonable definition.  That is just used to be inflammatory.  His performances are no more sexualized than is typical for modern performers (which is admittedly not saying anything in their favour.)

One could have a thoughtful discussion about whether it is appropriate for Catholics to use popular culture to reach out to youth.  Inviting such a discussion does not appear to have been the goal of the article in the OP.

Also, this thread does not belong in this subforum.

When someone is famous in this secular world, it's usually for their sinful behaviour. And you can see most of the audience are women who are crying for this gay singer.

1 John 2:16 ESV
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Matthew 16:26 ESV 
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

You should be suspicious of modern anything because they usually reject God and worship the flesh.

[Jayne]

When someone is famous in this secular world, it's usually for their sinful behaviour. And you can see most of the audience are women who are crying for this gay singer.

There is no evidence that Blanco is a "gay singer" or even generally believed to be one.  (For the record, I think we should use traditional terms like homosexual and sodomite, rather than "gay" which was promoted by Leftists.)  He made a popular video praised for showing the equality of homosexual to heterosexual love which is, of course, a false and horrible message.  The video alternates images of him expressing romantic feelings to a woman with images of his singing partner Mahmoud embracing a man.  Mahmood is rumoured but not confirmed to be a homosexual.  Blanco is thought to be heterosexual and engaged to a young woman whom he started dating before becoming famous.

Given the way the article reported the matter, it is not surprising that you came to the wrong conclusion.  I'm sure we could come up with a list of genuine reasons why it was inappropriate for him to sing at a Catholic event.  For example, homosexual activists consider him as a supporter of their cause. The article, however, did not make these clear.  Rather it gave a distorted version that would create maximum outrage.  It was dishonest.

[Jayne]

Here is an article which reports the same occurrence from a completely different perspective:
https://newsbeezer.com/italyeng/blanco-enchants-st-peters-square-with-his-blu-celeste-the-performance-on-easter-monday-in-front-of-the-pope-and-80000-young-people-the-video/

After falling off the stage during a concert, Blanco performed his hit song in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican today Heavenly Blue, in front of over 80,000 young people who came from all over Italy for the day dedicated to the meeting between Pope Francis and young Italian teenagers. The singer-songwriter from Brescia performed dressed in white, accompanied on the piano by Michelangelo, producer and co-writer of chills, the song with which Blanco and Mahmood won Sanremo 2022, earning their place to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, which will be held this year from May 10th to 14th in Turin. Another promising young talent of Italian music was also present in St. Peter's Square: Matteo Romano. The 20-year-old from Cuneo decided to propose in front of the young people who flocked to St. Peter's Square viralthe song with which he participated in the last event Sanremo, with great public success. Initially, the organizers expected 57,000 visitors to St. Peter's Square, but in the end more than 80,000 young people came, who not only filled St. Peter's Square but also Via della Conciliazione and the surrounding area. In short, a great success for the meeting organized by the youth ministry of the Italian Bishops' Conference, intended as a moment of rebirth for young people after the two years of the coronavirus pandemic.

«With his lyrics, which tell of hardships, hopes and wounds, Blanco expresses the fears and moods of the boys, maybe not all of them, but many of them. You cannot think of speaking to them, persuading them with arguments or words, unless you are willing to listen to them first, without pretending to erase their world with a sponge and only judging them as dirty and unfit. Blanco is a gift that children receive and receive back," explained Don Michele Falabretti, Director of the National Youth Ministry of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) in recent days, presenting the initiative for the Easter Monday celebrations at the Vatican. to the youngsters. "Choosing Blanco for the concert, the singer who is currently attracting mainly the very young, means creating the conditions for mutual dialogue and listening," continues Don Falabretti. In order to talk to teenagers, you have to know who they are, try to understand their inner world, which artists (especially today's singers) interpret and make clear their characteristics ».

I am not saying that this perspective is better than the one in the OP (my personal views are far closer to those of gloria.tv) but it illustrates just how much the views of the reporter influence a story.  Often it feels like nobody is objectively reporting facts.

By the way, another pro-Blanco article I read claimed that he was raised a devout Catholic and kisses his Crucifix before every performance.

Edit to add:  Here is a link to a more balanced and reasonable article than either this or the OP:  https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-appears-at-easter-monday-concert-starring-pro-lgbt-singer/  Life Site News makes the true claim that Blanco is a "gay icon" and gives an explanation of why that makes his appearance so problematic.  However the article also explains the reasoning of the other side.

[Mushroom]

When someone is famous in this secular world, it's usually for their sinful behaviour. And you can see most of the audience are women who are crying for this gay singer.

There is no evidence that Blanco is a "gay singer" or even generally believed to be one.  (For the record, I think we should use traditional terms like homosexual and sodomite, rather than "gay" which was promoted by Leftists.)  He made a popular video praised for showing the equality of homosexual to heterosexual love which is, of course, a false and horrible message.  The video alternates images of him expressing romantic feelings to a woman with images of his singing partner Mahmoud embracing a man.  Mahmood is rumoured but not confirmed to be a homosexual.  Blanco is thought to be heterosexual and engaged to a young woman whom he started dating before becoming famous.

Given the way the article reported the matter, it is not surprising that you came to the wrong conclusion.  I'm sure we could come up with a list of genuine reasons why it was inappropriate for him to sing at a Catholic event.  For example, homosexual activists consider him as a supporter of their cause. The article, however, did not make these clear.  Rather it gave a distorted version that would create maximum outrage.  It was dishonest.

He's gay, look at his IG. I don't need to be an expert in Blanco's life to know that he's definitely spreading Satanism in his performances and career. No, I came to the right conclusion like most Catholics. So, do you listen to pop music and endorse it? The music industry is satanic and clearly uses it to brainwash people into committing mortal sin.

And you don't think he's a soft-core porn star, why does he feel the need to be naked all the time? And it's usually the homos who are showing off their bodies and obsessing over it.

And I don't think you understand the agenda of the church allowing themselves to be infiltrated by secular influences. This just proves it.