Is God a DJ? Pope makes appearance at religious rave in Slovakia

The current pontiff – Pope Leo XIV - made a (virtual) appearance at a rave outside a cathedral in Slovakia earlier this month.

Unlikely as it may sound, this actually happened – on 8 November, at St Elisabeth’s Cathedral in Košice, Slovakia, where thousands gathered in celebration of Slovak Catholic prelate Archbishop Bernard Bober’s 75th birthday.

The crowds were also there to see Padre Guilherme, a Portuguese priest who DJs as a sideline. Guilherme’s story is a fascinating one. He was ordained back in 1999, but found his other calling - on the decks - while he was stationed in Afghanistan, organising social events for soldiers.

He dabbled for a few years, but during Covid began streaming weekly sets in which he mixed house with spiritual and folk music. Since then, he’s made quite a name for himself, in Latin America especially – he’s played Mexico’s Dreamfields festival and performed under the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio.

As any student of dance music knows, there is something of an overlap between house and (the) gospel – just think of classic tracks such as Someday, Promised Land, I Lift My Cup and, of course, God Is A DJ by Faithless.

Anyway, the event in Kosice saw Guilherme mix classic house with religious music, with strobe lights and projection-mapped visuals across the exterior of the cathedral. And during Guilherme’s set, Pope Leo made his appearance on the big screen and blessed the assembled massive, er, congregation.

As a backdrop to Leo’s speech, Guilherme played a remix of one of his own tracks, named Dear Young People. As you might expect, clips from the event have gone a little viral, with one user joking “definitely from Chicago” and another saying: “Us Chicagoans definitely built different.”

It all sounds very wholesome and a far cry from the last time rave culture crossed over into Christianity. Older readers may recall the Nine O’Clock Service, an evangelical movement in Sheffield which ran for a few years in the 1990s.

This mixed dance music and a religious message, but was closed down after allegations of sexual abuse by the vicar who ran it.