Children from Uganda, the Holy Land, and Italy performed a “Canticle of Peace” for Pope Leo XIV, who told them beauty in music is a path toward God.
On the evening of Wednesday, July 29, Pope Leo XIV sat in the gardens of Borgo Laudato Si' at Castel Gandolfo and listened to 164 children from Uganda, the Holy Land, and Italy sing for peace. Andrea Bocelli sang alongside them, including a rendition of “Panis Angelicus” and, as a closing piece, “Amazing Grace.” It was the second time Bocelli has sung for the Pope at that location — he and his son Matteo performed at the September 2025 inauguration of the same gardens.
The young singers, ages 8 to 19, hail from Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the Ugandan village of Nabikabala, and the Italian cities of Naples and Camerino. They are participants in the Andrea Bocelli Foundation’s Voices Of program, which uses choral singing and educational workshops to support children in communities facing poverty, conflict, or limited access to schooling — a program that began with a pilot in Haiti in 2016 and has since expanded to Italy, the Holy Land, and Uganda. Haiti’s choir members were unable to travel because of ongoing instability in the country; their directors attended instead. The concert was part of celebrations this year marking the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, whose Canticle of the Sun was the centerpiece of the evening’s program.
In his greeting to the children, the Pope drew a direct line between beauty, music, and encounter with God. “Music has the remarkable ability to bring different voices together in unison, where each one contributes something unique to the whole,” he said. “In this sense, choir becomes an ideal symbol of harmony and cooperation.” He connected this to Scripture: “It is significant that Sacred Scripture and the Liturgy of the Church speak of ‘choirs of angels and saints’ when describing the joy of heaven — not because they are literally singing all the time, but because united in love they behold God together and find in him the fullness of happiness.”
Together, something greater
Addressing the children directly, Leo asked: “As you were singing, did you notice how music drew all of us into an experience of something new, something that was greater than any one of us alone could create? This is the experience of beauty. It opens before us a new horizon, and it awakens within us the desire to go out to meet that horizon. When we set out toward it, we discover not simply something, but Someone. We encounter God our Creator. Just as we can follow a stream back to its source, the beauty of music invites us to encounter the one who is beauty itself.”
The Pope asked the children to continue cultivating their gifts and reminded them of their own dignity: “Remember that you have been made for great things, and that this world is not enough to quench your thirst for meaning and happiness.” He also spoke of peace directly, noting that he prays “that peace may reign in your homes and in all those places throughout the world that continue to suffer from violence” — a remark with particular weight given that children from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were present in the same choir.
At the conclusion of the performance, children presented the Pope with gifts from their home countries. Cardinals and members of the Curia were then invited to a dinner reception in the gardens as the sun set.
The Pope closed by thanking the Andrea Bocelli Foundation for its work: “Through the power of music, you are contributing to the Church’s mission of promoting the integral development of every human person and serving the common good. May God bless your efforts.”
