Berlin, Germany, Jan 19, 2017 / 14:12 pm
A German artist was fined after doing 27 pushups on a Catholic altar and posting a video of the stunt online.
In the video, 38 year-old Alexander Karle can be seen walking over a barrier at the communion rail at St. John's Basilica in the city of Saarbrücken. He then climbs up on the altar, with his shoes on, to do the pushups, and briefly brushes off the altar with his hands before he leaves.
Karle, who studied art at a local university, published a video of the act on YouTube, under the title "Pressure to Perform." He said that he wanted "to study the links between religion and the need to conform to high standards of the time," according to reports from Russian and German news sources.
The video first caught the attention of Church officials when it was displayed at an art center last February. The parish brought charges against Karle, accusing him of defiling a place of worship.