Lauryn Hill - Sing Out Sister

Lauryn Hill appeared at a Christmas concert at the Vatican last weekend but instead of her scheduled presentation she blasted the audience, five top cardinals, primarily for the persistent sexual abuse of children by US priests and an inadequate response by the Vatican. Hill said, "I did not come here to celebrate the birth of Christ with you but to ask you why you are not in mourning for his death inside this place.... God has been a witness to the corruption of his leadership, of the exploitation and abuses ... by the clergy." She told those present to seek blessings "from God not men" and said she did "not believe in representatives of God on earth." She urged the church to "repent." She then sang a protest song.

Hill's statements will most likely be cut from the taped version of the show that will be aired later this month. The Catholic League, an ultra-reactionary group of Catholics, came out against Hill calling her "pathologically miserable," in a press release titled Lauryn Hill Flips Her Lid.