Authorities have arrested 12 people who tried to block the entrance to a theater performance in Poland they deemed pornographic.

The case highlights a cultural conflict between the country's new conservative pro-Catholic government and secular society.

Scuffles broke out late Saturday in Wroclaw when members of a Catholic organization tried to stop theater-goers from seeing "Death and the Maiden," based on the work of Nobel Prize-winning writer Elfriede Jelinek.

The protesters objected to the presence on the stage of porn stars.

The government's new culture minister, Piotr Glinski, had previously called for the show to be canceled, noting the theater is sponsored by the state budget.

Glinski's opponents say his attempt to stop the performance amounts to a violation of freedom of speech.