By Sarah Mac Donald - 23 June, 2014
Good Shepherd Church Belfast.
The parish of the Good Shepherd in Belfast is reeling following the revelation that explicit scenes were filmed inside the church for a video for internationally known DJ, Mark Wilkinson.
The Diocese of Down and Connor has indicated it will take legal action against the DJ and the video production company responsible for desecrating the Ormeau Road church.
The parish priest is reported to have been left “grievously distressed” after the matter came to light when the video went viral on YouTube.
DJ Wilkinson’s video for his song ‘Half Light’, which was shot at various locations around Belfast, reached 25 in the UK music charts this month.
According to spokesman for the Diocese of Down and Connor, Fr Edward McGee, “No permission was either sought or granted to film the interior of the parish church within the context of any conduct or activities that were not relating to prayer or homage and in accordance with the sanctity of the Church.”
He described the carry on in the video as “a desecration of the Church” which “caused most grievous distress to the parish priest and if viewed by the parishioners would cause severe hurt and distress to the wider parish community.”
“For these reasons, to protect the Church and its parishioners, the Diocese of Down and Connor immediately brought these concerns to the attention of the distributors and creators of the material which was unlawfully obtained by deception and trespass.”
“The originators/creators and distributors gave us an undertaking that the unlawful material would be removed from circulation and destroyed.”
Good Shepherd parishioners told the BBC that they were “shocked” and “horrified”.
One woman asked, “What is the world coming to?”
Another woman said, “Our priests don’t deserve that and our Church doesn’t deserve that.”
