Tango in 1914: "Immorality of the New Paganism" (Pope St. Pius X) / Tango in 2013: "I love the tango a lot!" (Pope Francis)

Pope St. Pius X

In 1914, Pope St. Pius X condemned the tango.

"The tango has already been condemned...and is prohibited. [I urge clergy to defend] the sanctity of Christian usages against the dangers threatening and the overwhelming immorality of the new paganism."

He warned parents that if they did not protect their children from corruption they would be guilty before God of failure of their most sacred duties.

He went on: "It is everything that can be imagined. It is revolting and disgusting. Only those persons who have lost all moral sense can endure it. It is the shame of our days. Whoever persists in it commits sin."


This is right in line with many, many other saints as St. John Vianney preached:

St. John Vianney

"Go, you wicked parents, go down to HELL where the wrath of God awaits you, because of your conduct when you gave free scope to your children; GO! It will not be long before they join you since you have shown them the way so well...You must answer for their souls as you will answer for your own...but what I do know is that if your children lose their souls whilst they are yet under your care, it is to be feared that your lack of watchfulness may be the cause of your own damnation."

And in another sermon:

"Is it not at these gatherings that the Devil so furiously kindles the fire of impurity in the hearts of the young people in order to annihilate in them the grace of Baptism?

What sorry should not such parents feel, at seeing their children given over to such pleasures or, to speak more plainly, to such licentious ways? These children are no longer Heaven-bent, but are fattening for Hell. Let us suppose that the parents have not yet lost the Faith...Alas! I dare not go any further!...What blind parents!...what lost children!...

St. John Chrysostom

"Look," says St. John Chrysostom, "at this worldly and flighty young woman, or rather at this flaming brand of diabolical fire who by her beauty and her flamboyant attire lights in the heart of that young man the fire of concupiscence. Do you not see them, one as much as the other, seeking to charm one another by their airs and graces and all sorts of tricks and wiles? Count up, unfortunate sinner, if you can, the number of your bad thoughts, of your evil desires and your sinful actions. Is it not there that you heard those airs that please the ears, that inflame and burn hearts and make of these assemblies furnaces of shamelessness?"

St. Ephraim

St. Ephraim tells us that dancing is the perdition of girls and women, the blinding of men, the grief of angels, and the joy of the devils. 

St. Augustine of Hippo

St. Augustine tells us that those who go to dances truly renounce Jesus Christ in order to give themselves to the Devil. What a horrible thing that is! To drive out Jesus Christ after having received Him in your hearts! "Today," St. Ephraim says, "they unite themselves to Jesus Christ and tomorrow to the Devil."



The Council of Aix-la-Chapelle forbids dancing, even at weddings. And St. Charles Borromeo, the Archbishop of Milan, says that three years of penance were given to someone who had danced and that if he went back to it, he was threatened with excommunication. If there were no harm in it, then were the Holy Fathers and the Church mistaken?

St. Ambrose

Listen to St. Augustine and you will see if dancing is good action. He tells us that "dancing is the ruin of souls, a reversal of all decency, a shameful spectacle, a public profession of crime." St. Ephraim calls it the "ruin of good morals and the nourishment of vice." St. John Chrysostom: "A school of public unchastity." Tertullian: "The temple of Venus, the consistory of shamelessness, and the citadel of all the depravities."

"Here is a girl who dances," says St. Ambrose, "but she is the daughter of an adultress because a Christian woman would teach her daughter modesty, a proper sense of shame, and not dancing!"



On April 20, 2013, nearly one century after Pope St. Pius X's condemnation (in continuity with the 1900 year teaching of the Church on dancing), Pope Francis gave his public stamp of approval for tango by supporting a "Rhythm of Tango" event dedicated to Rome.
One article can be found here.

"I like it a lot. It's something that comes from within me," Jorge Mario Bergoglio said in an extensive 2010 interview...


"Do you know how to dance tango?" Bergoglio was asked.

"Yes, I danced it as a young man, although I preferred the milonga," he said, referring to the faster paced country music that was one of the early roots of tango.

The future pope said he had a girlfriend then, and they would go dancing together with a group of friends...

Another article, in Italian (thank you Google Translate), can be found here.

"We know that the Holy Father loves the tango, so we decided to dedicate this event by the city."

Below is a montage of images from the tango advertised for Rome, and one has to imagine this is in fact one of the atrocities He saw while sweating blood in the garden.

And before anyone gets mad at me for trying to create scandal or for criticizing the Holy Father, please visit this recent post for support of calling a sin a sin. I love the Holy Father, but I also wish for him to be the best shepherd possible, and he needs our prayers.

"And when the daughter of the same Herodias had come in, and had danced, and pleased Herod, and them that were at table with him, the king said to the damsel: Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee...I will that forthwith thou give me in a dish, the head of John the Baptist." - Mark 6:22,25

I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias...

The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.




Our Lady of Sorrows, ora pro nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Please take a moment to say one Our Father, One Hail Mary and One Glory Be for our Holy Father and for Holy Mother Church.


~Pax Christi sit semper Vobiscum