BEIRUT, Jan 13 (Reuters) – In a packed Beirut nightclub, electronic beats pulsed alongside projected videos of popes in white robes as Catholic priest Father Guilherme Peixoto spun tracks on the turntable.
The performance drew 2,000 attendees, but it also sparked opposition from some Christians in Lebanon, the first time the man known as Padre Guilherme to his 2.6 million Instagram followers says he has faced such vocal objection.
“If you don’t feel comfortable with what I’m doing, please pray for me. Because I cannot do anything more about that. It’s a free world and it needs to be free,” he told Reuters.
BACKING FROM A POPE
Peixoto’s foray into electronic music started in his native Portugal more than a decade ago as a way to raise funds for parish debts. Since then, he has toured the world. Pope Francis blessed his headphones. A recent performance in Slovakia incorporated a special message from Pope Leo.
But in Lebanon, a small yet vocal group, including some clergy, filed a formal complaint seeking to cancel Peixoto’s event, claiming it distorted Christian images and customs and violated the church’s morals.
Beirut has a vibrant electronic music scene and is seen as one of the most socially liberal cities in the region, though religious and political leaders have had some success in censoring films, plays and other performances they deem offensive.
To some, the complaint against Peixoto felt inconsistent with the support he has won from Catholic leaders.
“I don’t see why the priests in Lebanon are unhappy with this idea, because two popes didn’t have a problem with it,” said Charbel Hatem, a 19-year-old student who attended Peixoto’s Mass at a local university hours before the DJ set.
The show went ahead after a judge rejected the complaint, with Peixoto performing in a t-shirt printed with loaves and fishes, a reference to a biblical miracle.
“Not all need to like what I’m doing, but they need to respect,” he said, adding that if he returns to Lebanon, he hopes to explain his music to his critics.
“It’s music to bring the church outside of the church,” he said.
PEACE, ON AND OFF THE DANCEFLOOR
As she left the club, Cecile Freiha, 36, told Reuters that the image of a dove, projected throughout the concert, reminded her of Pope Leo’s December visit to Lebanon, part of his first foreign tour.
“We felt it was a continuity and message for us also. Religion is a message of love, of openness,” she said.
Like Leo, Peixoto hopes to bring a message of peace to a country grappling with Israel’s near-daily strikes and fears of further escalation.
“We need to live as a family, of course with different religions or even without religion. But this is our house. And if you live in Lebanon, Lebanon is your house – for all,” he said.
(Reporting by Raghed Waked and Catherine Cartier in Beirut; Writing by Catherine Cartier; Editing by Maya Gebeily, Aidan Lewis)
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