Priests in Concert – a band consisting of a group of young priests of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington – performed a fundraiser on Sunday, June 18, the Thaddeus Room of the Shrine of St. Jude in Rockville.

Proceeds from the concert benefited The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington youth who will travel to Portugal for World Youth Day with Pope Francis from Aug. 1-6.

All of the members of Priests in Concert attended the Redemptoris Mater Seminary and are members of the Neocatechumenal Way, a Catholic movement that sends out families and the priests from its seminaries to evangelize and spread the Catholic faith.

Father Saulo Vicente, vice rector of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Hyattsville, Maryland captured the true spirit of the Priests in Concert

“I will give my life, in all ways, in music, art, to raise money for today’s youth, for them to stay in the Church,” said Father Saulo Vicente, vice rector of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Hyattsville, Maryland., “It is what makes my priesthood fruitful.”   

Event organizer Father Daniele Rebeggiani, a secretary at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C., opened the concert by singing a rendition of “Eye of the Tiger” on a stage bathed in strobe lights and smoke from a fog machine. 

The show took the standing-room-only crowd on a multi-cultural musical journey, with songs from countries around the world including Spain, Italy, Puerto Rico, Poland, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, the United States, and of course, Portugal. Many of the songs brought the crowd to their feet, clapping and singing along, especially “Whisky,” a popular song by Polish blues rock band Dżem.

Throughout the concert, the audience was challenged to make donations to the cause for certain songs or for certain priests to do a solo. The result of one such challenge was an entertaining mashup of “Save Tonight” by Eagle-Eye Cherry performed by Father John Benson, a parochial vicar at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., and “De Música Ligera” by Soda Stereo performed by Father Emanuel Lucero, a parochial vicar at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Krys and Tatiana Psurek attended the concert to support the fundraiser but also to support their friend Father Pawel Sass, a Polish priest and band member who serves as the pastor of Nativity Parish in Washington, D.C. They said the concert was “great fun for a good cause, and it was much more than expected.” They complimented the event for being so organized and for the great music, “not a Church concert,” but a great evening with a warm, friendly atmosphere among the patrons.

Andrea Canenguez, a sophomore psychology major at The Catholic University of America, is one of the young people going to World Youth Day in August. A parishioner at St. Charles Catholic Church in Arlington, Virginia, Canenguez has spent her whole life in the Catholic faith. This will be her third World Youth Day, having attended World Youth Day in Poland and Panama.

“It means the world to me, to be able to go. I know it sounds cliché but when I am there it feels as though another weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” she said. “In attending World Youth Day, you receive so much more than you give.”

Jeremy Amaya, also a parishioner of St. Charles in Arlington, is a rising freshman at St. John Paul the Great Catholic High School in Dumfries, Virginia. This will be his first World Youth Day although he has gone on pilgrimages to Rome and Israel. Jeremy has no social media, primarily because his parents won’t allow it, but he admitted, “I can see that they are hiding me from society’s bad messages.”

The three-hour concert was very successful, ending with much of the audience samba dancing in the aisles, bringing in an estimated $20,000 to benefit The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington youth attending World Youth Day. Father Daniele estimated around 500 people from the The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington will travel to Portugal for World Youth Day later this summer.