WARSAW, February 20, 2007  –  A humorous video of what are said to be young Dominican monks in Krakow performing a routine of the iconic “gay anthem” originated by The Village People, “YMCA” has outraged monastery officials.

The video, posted on YouTube, was filmed in a Krakow Church.  It was quickly removed from the popular website last week  (see note below).

Starting with Gregorian chant, the video explodes into “YMCA” as the monks discard their traditional brown hooded cloaks.

“I know who did this clip,” the ‘Przeor’ of the Dominican monastery in Krakow Adam Sulikowski told the daily newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza.  “It was very wrong.”

However, many Polish people are reported to have thought the video to be very funny.  But some Polish politicians from the League of Polish Family Party have said the film is “scandalous and promotes homosexuality inside the Catholic Church”.

Lucasz Palucki, Poland’s representative of the International Lesbian and Gay Culture Network commented: “The video show us just how powerful the YMCA song is.  Our gay culture won, even inside conservative Catholic Church.  My best regards to the young monks in Krakow.”

Today, the London Times carried an article “Church Decides that Lent Really Should Be More of a Giggle” in which Alan Hamilton suggests the Church should “lighten up”.

Note:  The video is now  on DailyMotion.