mummery

From Old French momerie, mommerie.

mummery (countable and uncountable, plural mummeries)

1. merrymaking; the performance of a mummer
   • 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

     I say the sewer thought I was dressed to bear a part in the tregetour’s mummery, and so I got admission

2. a ridiculous or ostentatious ceremony, especially of a religious nature
   • 1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation

     Why, you unweaned cub, he believes in that mummery a good deal less than I do, and I don't believe in it at all.

3. a showy but empty performance