"I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it." Psalm 101:3
A church in the Netherlands was shocked and horrified after discovering that, unbeknownst to them, a porn film was shot in one of its confessionals.
According to Church Militant, the inappropriate incident took place at Saint Joseph's Church, also known as "Heuvelse Church" by residents of Tilburg. The short adult film was produced by Paul Visser, a contractor with a production company owned by Dutch porn star Kim Holland.
When scenes of the sex acts were made public, Holland's company was bombarded with an onslaught of angry emails, according to the outlet. In response, Holland apologized and said the images and video would be removed from her website.
She explained that Visser never viewed the church as a sacred place: "For Peter [Visser], as a non-believer, the church was a very ordinary place," Holland explained. "He completely underestimated the reaction from commenters."
"He knows he should not have done it," she said, saying her company "regrets" the decision.
Father Jan van Noorwegen, pastor of St. Joseph's, expressed horror over the incident and confusion as to how it even took place: "That's not the right place," he insisted. "I do not know how they got in; the gate is only open a few hours a day."
"But then there are always people in the church," he added. "No one saw anything."
The priest and parish council are discussing whether they'll take further action against the company.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred: In 2014, a woman who filmed a pornographic video at a church in Austria was charged with offending religious feeling and desecration of a church. In 2016, the website PornXN came under fire after filming on the church graveyard without permission.
At the time, the church's pastor, Reverend Paul Tullett, called the move "shameful and upsetting: "The church is visited on a regular basis by mums and dads who've lost their children - and to think this sacred space, so treasured and valued, has been abused and used for something so inappropriate is shameful and upsetting," he said. "The parishioners and the whole community are all shocked and upset that something like this could happen in our church, and in our village."
He also criticized the star of the film for her offensive behavior: "It's a public space, so I don't think they've broken any rules or laws by filming on the grounds - although I think her acts were certainly illegal, her presence wasn't."
