Pope Leo makes appearance during DJ set at Catholic rave

Catholics in Slovakia came together in the name of spiritual fun earlier this month to “rave” outside a cathedral, and even the supreme pontiff himself made a surprise appearance.

The event took place on Saturday, November 8, in front of St. Elisabeth, a 14th-century cathedral in Košice, Slovakia, where thousands gathered in celebration of Slovak catholic prelate Archbishop Bernard Bober’s 75th birthday. 

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Padre Guilherme, a priest and DJ from Portugal, performed on the night, blending classic house tracks with religious music backed by strobe lights and projection-mapped visuals across the exterior of the cathedral.

Pope Leo XIV made a surprise virtual appearance during the DJ set, where he “blessed” crowds and gave a speech on screen behind Padre Guilherme.

Priest Guilherme, who also moonlights as a dance music producer outside of his religious duties, performed a remix of one of his own tracks during the Pope’s speech, named ‘Dear Young People’ – which is currently unreleased.

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Clips from the event went viral online, with one person joking that Pope Leo is “definitely from Chicago”, and another quipping: “Someone said Popechella!”.

Padre Guilherme began hosting DJ streams online during the pandemic as a way to encourage young people to become closer to their faith, mixing techno and house with spiritual music. 

Since then, he’s released five EPs, performed at festivals including Dreamfields in Mexico alongside the likes of Adam Beyer and Charlotte de Witte, and played below the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter