The Dominican rapper Tokischa published a few days ago semi-naked photographs and videos inside the San Sebastian basilica of Nuestra Señora del Coro to promote the short film NO MARGIN. The Bishopric of San Sebastián has not been slow to respond and has demanded that the production company remove the images spread on the artist’s social networks, which already accumulate more than 6,400 comments and 5,800 reposts. The Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers has also reacted and has filed a lawsuit for the crime of desecration.
“My relationship is with God, not with religion, God accepts me as I am, created me, does not judge me, allows me to learn from my mistakes and find the truth for myself,” says the caption of the publication on the singer’s Instagram. “God has never left, he is present in every cell of my body, in the air I breathe, in the innocent laughter of children (…) But you believe he is only in the church.”
The Bishopric of San Sebastián has explained in a statement that it is studying whether the events “could require some type of legal or canonical action” and has stated that at the time they denied authorization to the production company to record the short. Last July, according to the institution, they requested permission to film “a brief scene” in one of the temples of the diocese. On the occasion, they had explained that it would be “a contemplative and respectful moment, without dialogue, or activity that would interrupt the dynamics of the place.” This in order to “promote Basque culture through an intimate and poetic story” in a cultural project. But the Bishopric investigated the previous works of the producer and the artist, and decided to deny authorization. It was not enough, they denounced in the statement, since in any case the production company contacted those responsible for the basilica to carry out the project.
The diocese has “deeply regretted the improper use of a sacred space for the production of content” that is “incompatible” with respect in sacred places and can hurt the sensitivity of the faithful. In this sense, Canon Law, they have explained, specifies that “in a sacred place only that which favors the exercise and promotion of worship, piety and religion, and the promotion of worship, piety and religion can be admitted, and the carrying out of that which is not in line with the sanctity of the place is prohibited.”
The lawsuit of Christian lawyers
The Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers filed a lawsuit in a court in San Sebastián for the crime of desecration contained in article 524 of the Penal Code. In a statement released by the organization, the artist appears “semi-naked—topless and wearing only an intimate panty (thong)—posing provocatively inside the temple,” in front of an image of Jesus Christ, “using the sacred space as an erotic setting completely unrelated to religious worship.”
The letter continues by denouncing that the photographs are part of a “planned aesthetic” for a short film which, in the opinion of the Foundation, “evidence the premeditation and conscious use of a Catholic temple for commercial and exhibition purposes, distorting its religious significance.” According to the complainants, the images also stirred the community of Catholic faithful with “deep indignation and offense” in the city and throughout Spain.
The lawsuit points out that the facts could constitute a crime of desecration because they are acts carried out in a temple “with an evident offensive nature towards religious feelings, through the disrespectful use of a sacred space and its symbols.”
The artist was already sanctioned, according to the Foundation, in 2021 by the La Vega Prosecutor’s Office, in the Dominican Republic, for “carrying out similar acts” in a religious sanctuary, which “evidence repeated behavior and a deliberate desire to use places of worship to generate a provocation.”