When your day job requires you to dress up as a satanic pope, you’re going to have a complicated view of Christianity. But that doesn’t mean Tobias Forge, the creative mastermind behind the occult-rock band Ghost, can’t appreciate the religion’s artistic and cultural beauty.
“In the same way that I would not hang out with an alien from the film Alien, but I love the look of it? That’s my relationship with Christianity,” Forge tells Rolling Stone. “I’m a big fan of the arts treasures that are in there and it’s always had a great impact on me, even if I use it as a repellent.”
Since forming Ghost in his native Sweden in 2006, Forge has concocted an entire upside-down catechism that pokes devilish fun at the teachings and rituals of the Holy See. As Papa Emeritus, the dark frontman who takes a new form with each album, he performs in a miter and papal robes. Lyrics…
