Met Gala 2018: Archbishop of New York says he ‘didn’t see anything sacrilegious’ about Catholic theme

The Archbishop of New York has spoken out about his experience at this year's Met Gala, which has been the subject of controversy in light of its theme: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.

Despite some conservatives accusing the annual event of “religious appropriation”, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he “didn’t really see anything sacrilegious” on the night and described the event as a “great evening”.

“I may have seen some things in poor taste, but I didn’t detect anybody out to offend the church,” he said on his SiriusXM show on Tuesday.

Dolan added that he felt touched by the number of guests who approached him throughout the evening to discuss catholicism:

“A number of people came up to speak about their Catholic upbringing. It was a powerful evening,” he said, praising the corresponding exhibition as “beautiful”.

He also poked fun at the ease at which he was able to acquire an outfit to suit the event's theme: “‘I’m the only one that didn’t have to go out and buy something to wear,” he told guests at his table.

However, the evening wasn’t entirely fallable as Dolan explained that he found the food a little lacklustre.

“I had to tip the waiter to go out and get me a couple of hot dogs from the cart outside the museum,” he teased, adding that he needed “magnifying glasses and tweezers” to see the hors d'oeuvres.

“I kept trying to eat with my fork and it would fall through the prongs."

As for the celebrity clientele, the 68-year-old didn’t seem entirely au fait with the event’s social and cultural significance, which celebrates the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new fashion exhibition, nor was he too familiar with one of the evening's key figureheads: “Apparently it is the social event of the year,” he said.

“Is it the first Monday of every May? It’s sponsored by Anna Wintour… you got me! She edits Vogue Magazine.

“It’s to benefit her fashion design at the museum, but everybody comes out for it. It is glitteratisima”.

Tickets to the coveted event cost $30,000 (£22,159), however, the Cardinal admitted that he didn’t pay for his.

“They were sure good to me,” he concurred, “they were sure kind to me.”