The Carma police zone in the Limburg province is opening an investigation into a video circulating on social media of a couple having sex on the altar of Sint-Michiels Church in the town of Bree.
Even though the footage of the couple is explicit in nature, their identities remain unclear, but the local police still issued a double official report: for public indecency as well as for the distribution of pornographic material.
"I do not know the details, nor did the other priest," pastor-deacon Jaak Janssen of Bree commented on local radio. "We do not decide whether a complaint is filed, but I find it absolutely unacceptable."
"It is not just public indecency, but they are also simply abusing the church," he added.
In addition to the official report drawn up by the police, Ernest Essers of the Bree church administration also told Het Belang van Limburg that they were going to do the same thing.
"This exceeds all limits of decency, respect and reasonableness," said Essers, chairman of the church administration, who received the sex video via WhatsApp on Friday. "This is not acceptable. This is public indecency. We are going to file a complaint with the police."
The report was only filed on Wednesday due to the long All Saints' weekend, he explained. "We want to handle this discreetly, but of course we want it to be followed up. This caught us by surprise."
The neo-Gothic church building was closed for restoration for several years, but has been open to the public again since last summer, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
After that, someone comes to close the church door, meaning that the video was likely recorded in broad daylight, but it is not yet clear when exactly this happened.
There are cameras inside the church. Those images could be useful for the investigation. "Quite a few people walk in to look at the restoration, but not in the way that couple did," Essers added.
