Coolest Pope EVER! Concert in St. Peter's Square directed by Pharrell and Andrea Bocelli

[jmbar2]

On September 13, 2025, Pope Francis hosted "Grace for the World," the first public concert in St. Peter's Square in over 2,000 years, co-directed by Pharrell Williams and Andrea Bocelli to advance human fraternity from the Fratelli Tutti encyclical. The event featured diverse artists like K-pop star BamBam debuting his ballad "Angel in Disguise," hip-hop duo Clipse with John Legend on "The Birds Don't Sing," and performers including Jelly Roll, Jennifer Hudson, Karol G, and Teddy Swims, attracting thousands in Vatican City and millions via streams on Disney+, Hulu, and ABC News Live. A stunning drone light show formed images of the Pope and peace symbols, amplifying messages of global unity and drawing widespread acclaim for merging faith with contemporary music.

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[Hotler]

1. Thanks for sharing. nt

[jmbar2]

2. High points

33:00 John Legend singing "Bridge Over Troubled Waters". Takes on new meaning today.

[Starbeach]

3. But

The Pope is culturally savvy, as evidenced by new saints and these concerts. But the Catholic Church still celebrates and enshrines the second class status of women, which I regard as a profound form of inhumanity. That can't be ignored.

[Heidi]

4. The event should have been titled "Grace for the heteronormative male world."

I’ll believe all this hoopla about “cool pope” when he affects real change.

[Starbeach]

5. Agree

It's cool but cruel? This pope is more slick about his repressive ideology but that's not to be celebrated.

[ancianita]

19. You misunderstand.

The Pope is not in any way ideological, nevermind repressively so.

[cbabe]

7. Did I miss any women entertainers, or was the line up all male?

[SocialDemocrat61]

8. Jennifer Hudson was there

She starts about an hour in.

[cbabe]

10. Ah. One out of many. Thanks.

[SocialDemocrat61]

13. To be fair one Jennifer Hudson

has the talent of 10 men 😉

[cbabe]

15. Like the quote attributed to Ginger Rogers: I do everything Fred does but backwards and in high heels.

[flashman13]

11. No buts! If the Catholic church can change and redeem itself there is hope for all of us.

Pope Francis kicked the door open and Leo is rushing through it so that the church can actually practice what it preaches. Give the man from Chicago a chance.

We here in America find ourselves in the grip of cruelty and inhumanity. We need to practice what we preach. I really believe that We the People can and will redeem ourselves.

[ancianita]

20. But

Jesus's 2,000 year old universal (catholic) Church -- which He continues to build, and through which He (The Way, the Truth and the Life) -- teaches and acts like this in every single Catholic church worldwide across six continents:

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus". from The Apostle Paul's letter to the Galatians 3:28
St. Paul -- who Jesus directly converted and taught on the road to Damascus -- emphasizes that in Christ, social distinctions like ethnicity, social status, and gender are superseded by a spiritual unity, where all believers are equal members of God's spiritual family and are equally valued.

[Heidi]

6. Lovely entertainment but the Vatican itself says grace is only for males.

Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.

https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_one/chapter_three/article_2/ii_grace.html#:~:text=Grace%20is%20favor%2C%20the%20free,nature%20and%20of%20eternal%20life.

[SocialDemocrat61]

9. It's a crime this guy didn't host

[Heidi]

12. Is that Father Guido Sarducci?

[SocialDemocrat61]

14. Of course!

[Heidi]

17. !!!!!!

[jmbar2]

16. Welp... After listening to more of it...

It veers into hard-core Christian praise music, which does nothing for me. I was hoping for more of a universal message of peace.

[Heidi]

18. Agree. I'm tired of marketing messages. I want to see change. (nt)